Gauge Description:

The paddler's gauge is painted on the river right bridge piling. -3" to +3" are the normal preferred levels, especially if you are driving very far for this run. However, locals run it much lower (down to around -5") and much higher (well over +6").

For the USGS gauges look for over 350 CFS on the West Fork of the Little River or Little River Canyon to be over 2000 CFS. These have proved very reliable as a good indicator gauges.

W Fork Little R nr Ft Payne [ AL ]

Current Conditions Stage Flow Updated 1.33 0.13 8/20 4:00 Station Graphs

Linked Reaches

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Level Legend:

Running

Below Minimum Recommended Flow

Above Maximum Recommended Flow

Unknown

Descriptions of reaches with River Name in bold have been verified by a regional StreamTeam member.

State	River Name/Section	Class	Level	Rel. Level	Updated
AL	Johnnies Creek— 3. Canyon Rim Road to Canyon Mouth Park	IV(V)	0 cfs	low	8/20 4:00
AL	Little, W. Fork— 1. Desoto Falls to Cloudmont	I-II(IV)	0.13 CFS	low	8/20 4:00
AL	Little, W. Fork— 2. Cloudmont to Lake Howard	I-II	0 cfs	low	8/20 4:00
AL	Little, W. Fork— 3. Lake Howard to East Fork Little	I-III(IV)	0 cfs	low	8/20 4:00

Station Description

AW Gauge ID:	1121
USGS Station:	02398950
HUC:	03150105
Latitude:	34.4917
Longitude:	-85.6167
Class:	-1

Tales of the Paddlesnake
$26.95

Entrance Falls (Class III+, Mile 0.0)
This 10' cascade can be scouted from the parking lot prior to putting on. Run at right of center, over the peaked wave, down the slide, and off the kicker for a sweet boof.

Two Out Of Three (Class IV, Mile 0.1)
Directly after Entrance Falls comes a rapid that derives its name from the pinning potential that exists in the left line. At low to medium flows most folks run the far right slot down under the cliff then rejoining the main current below. At higher flows the pinning potential of the left line is minimized.

Boogie Right (Class III+, Mile 0.1)
After a couple of easy boulder rapids comes Boogie Right. From the pool above two entrances are possible. You can run left of the boulder, off a large pour-over, and then to the right or start against the right bank and stay there. Once through the entrance enjoy a nice channel with a few holes to punch. The channel is somewhat similar to Zoom Flume on Tallulah or The Wall Rapid on Goshen Pass of the Maury in VA.

Cave Left (Class III+, Mile 0.2)
After a few more non-descript rapids comes a 3' pour-over into a boiling cauldron. The hole can be sticky and the alcove in the rock on river left (the cave) can make retrieving the boats of swimmers very difficult. Run it slightly right of center with some speed and a good boof.

Left Bank (Class IV, Mile 0.2)
After another small pool comes a rapid that can only be run on the far left. The center and right of this rapid are all sieves and drops onto rock. Run a left banking turn (avoid being pushed right when landing) and then punch the pour-over as you emerge between two large boulders.

Right Slot (Class III+, Mile 0.3)
Run this one far right through the slot and boof the 4' diagonal ledge onto the Conveyor Belt.

The Conveyor Belt (Class II, Mile 0.3)
The Conveyor Belt is a low angle slide that leads out of the previous drop and right into The Big Slide

The Big Slide (Class IV, Mile 0.4)
A huge (but hard to mess up) 25' cascade/slide that is usually run left or left of center. As it levels out keep heading left, finishing down to the biggest pool on the run. At really high water, lines right of center open up, but it is such a wide section of the creek that most mortals are on other creeks when Johnnies is running that high.

Gorilla Constrictor (Class 5.0, Mile 0.4)
A walk for a lot of folks, Gorilla Constrictor is a large, multi-tiered waterfall that has dished out its share of injuries. The line is on river right and if you're considering running it you'd better have the scouting skills to easily recognize it. At the bottom is a small pool before it feeds into several sieves. At normal levels most of the water is going into the sieves, but as the water rises it is possible to run left of the sieves to exit the pool.

The Little Slide (Class IV, Mile 0.5)
After Gorilla Constrictor paddlers will find themselves on a low angle slide that snakes its way downstream, ending in a 10 foot 45 degree angled slide. At levels over 0" the final hole can be quite sticky.

Cliff Right a.k.a. The Ditch (Class IV, Mile 0.6)
After a 4' boof on the right paddlers will try to work their way as far left as possible before dropping into the ditch and slamming against the cliff on the right. This rapid seems to flip a lot of paddlers against the cliff, but just ride it out and roll up in the pool.

Ditch Bitch a.k.a Meltdown (Class IV, Mile 0.6)
Similar to the final move in the previous rapid, this one requires boaters to start against the cliff on the right then move left at the end to avoid a rock in the channel. At levels over 0" it is fairly easy to make the move and finish left. Running tight against the right cliff is also possible, but it ends in a surprisingly sticky hole and the washout against the right cliff is badly undercut. At low levels more and more folks are walking this rapid.

Earthquake (Class IV, Mile 0.7)
Unlike many of the drops on Johnnies, this rapid actually has several possible lines (if the water is above 0"). The cleanest and most common is to start left with left angle and slide left around the pinning boulder to punch the final hole.

Boulder Choke (Class IV, Mile 0.8)
It appears this drop can be run down the middle just right of center, but everyone I know sneaks through the boulders into an eddy on far river right the enters a channel that angles back to the center to finish with a fun 2' boof.

Bastard (Class IV+, Mile 0.9)
Enter this one right of center with right angle and stay right all the way through. The final drop feels similar to Seven Foot Falls on the Chattooga. Beware of the eddy on river right after the final drop, those driving hard right often find themselves in a hard to escape eddy that feeds back into the hole.

Last Drop (Class III+, Mile 1.0)
The normal line on the final rapid is a left to right move on river left. The normal line down the left has gathered wood often so be on the lookout after high water. The river right is an unstable jumble of rock that changes frequently and is very shallow at normal levels.