2. Lower Cartecay Road to Stegall Mill Road Road (Middle Cartecay)Class I-II+(III)
2.1 Miles
Avg Gradient 28 fpm
Max Gradient 50 fpm
Blackberry Falls
Blackberry Falls Photo by Greg Watson taken 1/6/07 @ 2.00 Gauge Information
Cartecay
River DescriptionGauge Description:
Special Event: Atlanta Whitewater Club's Cartecay Cleanup Event Date and Time: Location: Organizers: Most of this section of the Cartecay River runs through a residential area. There are no restrooms after you put in and most of the river banks are on private property. Local outfitters have restrooms and changing rooms. So, please take care of these needs before putting on. The outfitters are located on Lower Cartecay Road. You will paddle past cabins and homes on both sides of the river for most of this section. Most of the homeowners are friendly toward the boating community, but they do not want to see you nude, nor do they want you going to the bathroom in their yard. It is recommended that you keep your groups small and quiet and not stay too long at any one spot. In short, please be respectful to the home owners. Put in at the bridge on Lower Cartecay Road. There are put-ins on river right and river left. Managed by commercial outfitters these access points have their own sets of rules. If you prefer, you can put in at Highway 52 and paddle the extra mile down to Lower Cartecay Road, but be prepared to portage because this section will likely have some strainers (deadfall) on on it. The Stegall Mill Road takeout is just past the bridge downriver from "Blackberry Falls" on river right. Please do not change clothes at the takeout. You should be aware that there are only two parking spaces at this takeout and one is reserved for the handicapped. If you take out here, you will probably need to arrange for someone to pick you up after you get off the river. Both outfitters provides shuttle services for a fee. When the level is 1.8' or better it is worth it to paddle on down to the DNR takeout. StreamTeam Status: verified
Last Updated: 2008-04-08 14:02:38
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Minimum Suggested Level: 1.2'
COOSAWATTEE RIVER (SR 5) NEAR ELLIJAY, GA. [ GA ] |
Current Conditions
Station Graphs |
| Level Legend: | Running | Below Minimum Recommended Flow | Above Maximum Recommended Flow | Unknown |
| State | River Name/Section | Class | Level | Rel. Level | Updated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GA | Cartecay— 1. GA Route 52 to Lower Cartecay Road | I-II | 175 cfs | low | 7/24 14:45 | |
| GA | Cartecay— 2. Lower Cartecay Road to Stegall Mill Road Road | I-II+(III) | 1.34 | 7/24 14:45 | ||
| GA | Cartecay— 3. Stegall Mill Road to DNR | II(III) | 175 cfs* | low | 7/24 14:45 | |
| GA | Coosawattee— GA Route 5 to Carter's Lake | I-II | 175 cfs | low | 7/24 14:45 |
| AW Gauge ID: | 6474 |
| USGS Station: | 02380500 |
| HUC: | |
| Latitude: | |
| Longitude: | |
| Class: |
User Comments |
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2008-07-23 08:37:12 (1 days ago)
I was camping this weekend and was able to have a midnight run along with 40 other friends. It was a great experience and everything was perfect for a fantastic time for my entire family. The camping and shuttle service was provided by Cartecay Water Shed that is located directly on the river. We had to rent 2 Kayaks and wanted to stay on the river versus being shuttled to and from the river each time. The camp sites were overlooking the river and created a fun time for all. I would like to pass this on to anybody wants to to have a great time for all family members. And what a nice, helpful and professional group of people running the Water Shed. Their web site is cartecaywatershed.com I was also able to purchase additional camping gear that was left at my house. The price for camping is $10 a tent and perfect locations that I remember as a kid with my family. Edit
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2008-07-23 03:12:58 (1 days ago)
run this section 5/08/2008 very fun and safe run as I am a newbie a little low but still fun Edit
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2008-07-17 11:44:52 (7 days ago)
I thought this was the cartecay river not the coosawattee?You are right , its the cartercay until it meets the ellijay river in the ellijay city limits , then its the coosawattee untill it reaches calhoun where it s joined by another river I dont remember the name of that one tho,but it's called the coosa to the miss.river Edit
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2008-07-14 04:58:23 (10 days ago)
What a River! it was roughly 2.5. Great ride all the way to DNR and Cartecay Water Shed provided a Shuttle. Edit
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2008-07-13 07:24:45 (11 days ago)
tree down just after put in it was river wide you can go around . 7/13/08 the tree has been cleared. Edit
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2008-05-20 02:32:11 (65 days ago)
this is the cartecay we talking about I thought Edit
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2008-03-26 11:14:53 (120 days ago)
Contact not found. (148182)
We were talking tonight about how the name of a rapid on the
Cartercay has changed names for some strange reason. I have been running this
river since 1976 - in fact my ex-husband's family owned all the land on both sides of the river at the covered bridge - actually back then there was no covered
bridge. However, after the ex's grandmother died the land was divided among the 11 siblings. Some chose to keep their land other chose to sell to development.
Now people are referring to the river's slide/fall rapid as Blackberry. It was and as far as I know always called by locals as Stegall Mill Fall. Just curious how it metamorphosed into Blackberry. Blackberry is the development that came about in the 80's. The developer even took control of the river trying to banned paddlers from using the river and take-out at the falls. Jay represented the paddlers and was able to get the Gilmer County Commission to permit paddlers to take off the river below the covered bridge. Blackberry Development has never done one thing to be
honored by the naming of the rapid. They were allowed to develop too close to
the river and when the river rises the trash/debris from decks, lawn
furniture and like have littered this river for years. And, it seems no on is responsible for cleaning up the homeowners messes. They probably
spend more on keeping paddlers off the river. Unless someone knows otherwise,
I suggest paddlers call the rapid Stegall Mill. Quit giving credit to those who basically ruined a great river.
Steve & Alice
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2006-08-25 04:53:48 (699 days ago)
My wife and I have kayaked this river at least twenty times in the last year. We both started about a year ago and consider ourselves rookies. We would like to set something straight about the CFS and height of the Cartecay. I would agree that optimal CFS for newbies to intermediate would be in the 400 CFS range, but, this river is easily runnable and still fun at CFS down to about 150. As a general rule, my wife and I will head up to make a run if the river height is 1.25 or greater on the Coosawattee gauge and the CFS is 150 or more. This comment applies to Section 2 only, as the first section is basically non-runnable due to trees down, and the third section requires around 190 to 210 CFS in order to make it fun (and not a hike over rocks). If you have questions feel free to email me. bdboire@yahoo.com. There is a great outfitter that allows you to camp for a minimal charge of $3 per person per night and treats you like gold. M.O.E. Their website is: http://www.mountaintownoutdoorexpeditions.com/ Their phone number is: 706-635-2524 They provide both rentals (sit on top, kayaks, and canoes) along with shuttles to the put-in and take-out Edit
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2004-09-21 15:47:18 (1402 days ago)
Steve Reach
We ran this section on 9/19/04 right after Hurricane Ivan dumped, at a level between 3.5 and 4 feet on the gauge. At this level the three named rapids (S-turn, Whirlpool and Blackberry) run together and become an Ocoee-like maelstrom, with huge haystacks, keeper holes, and very few easy eddies. Scouting gets difficult. Playing is only practical in the realm of the very experienced and terminally insane. The top of S-turn develops a foot-wide tubular curler. Whirlpool ramps up to something approaching a class 4 level of difficulty, with 2 giant haystacks and a nasty bottom hole. The ledge at Blackberry is underwater and some interesting alternate lines open up on the left side. The convergence of the right and left channels produces a monster exploding wave, best hit smack in the middle of the vee.<br />
<br />
Ya can't walk out of the river until you are below Blackberry without trespassing on private property. Stay away when it's this high unless you are sufficiently experienced and confident. It's BIG.<br />
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Use caution! Have a blast! Keep it safe <br />
<br />
-- STEVE
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2004-06-24 13:31:55 (1491 days ago)
Will Gosney
Date: Jun 24 2004, 16:37 GMT <br />
From: river0013 <br />
<br />
The online guage on the Coosawattee (just a bit further downstream) is a very good indicator and nearly mirrors the Cartecay gauge on 52. The key thing about the Coosawattee guage is it tells you CFS...that's a much better indicator than a ft-in level. <br />
<br />
I normally figure 2/3 of the flow on the Coosawattee is coming down the Cartecay, the rest is from the Ellijay River. 4ft on the Coosawattee equals 2300 cfs...two thirds of that is about 1500 cfs on the Cartecay. At 2ft on the Coosawattee it's about 365 cfs on the Cartecay. So while the level has doubled there is nearly 5 times as much water coming down. <br />
<br />
That's a lot of water coming down a small river bed. As a comparison there's about 450 cfs on the Nanty (a slighty biger riverbed) and 1100cfs on the Ocoee (a much bigger riverbed). <br />
<br />
Sometimes the Coosawattee guage isn't accurate if the thunderstorms are very isolated...but for widespread rain it works great.
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| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Sexton's | II |  |
| 1.3 | Rock Garden | II | |
| 1.5 | Surfing Rapid | II | |
| 1.8 | S-Turn | II+ | |
| 2.0 | Whirlpool | II+ | |
| 2.3 | Blackberry Falls | II+ | |
An island in the middle of the river marks the entrance to "S-Turn". Run left of the island and stay far left to avoid getting stuck on rocks. Beginners will want to scout "S-Turn". Eddy out on river left to scout. The most distinguishing feature of this rapid is the sluice that forms at the top of the ledge on river left. The river makes a sharp right turn through the sluice, and then quickly turns back to the left. Most beginners will run this rapid by aggressively paddling through the sluice and turning left after the drop. Others will catch the large eddy on river right and continue the run from there. At levels above 1.6' you can skip the sluice and drop straight over the ledge. Either way, you need to paddle aggressively the rest of the way. Punch the hole at the bottom. Eddy out river right or river left. If you eddy left be aware of the undercut rock at the bottom of the eddy. "S-Turn" is rated Class II+ at normal levels. At 4-6' it is definitely a solid Class III.
"Whirlpool" gets its name from the large swirling eddy on river right at the bottom of the rapid. Beginners will want to avoid this and eddy left, where there is a large pool. Be careful though, because the left eddy has a very dynamic eddy line. For best results run "Whirlpool" with a left angle and paddle hard for river left. WARNING: there is almost always a strainer at the bottom of the river right eddy. Also, this is a very deep spot in the river and the channel is full of trees and debris left over from ice storms and other bad weather. You cannot see them because they are below the surface. But watch out if you take a swim. Keep your feet up and swim aggressively for river left. "Whirlpool" is rated Class II+ at normal levels. At levels above 4' it becomes a Class III/III+. At these levels a very large hole forms at the bottom of the rapid. Run the sneak down the left to avoid this hazard. I don't recommend playing in this hole. It is shallow and people have been known to get hurt or break their paddles while attempting to play here.
Note: One of the property owners has asked that we not loiter here. She seems to be ok with small quiet groups, but would prefer it if large groups and clinics limit their time at this spot. Please respect her wishes. Thank you.
The grand finale of the run is "Blackberry Falls". It looks intimidating to beginners but it is actually just a big ol' slide. It ends in a haystack that tends to stop and flip those who air-brace, rudder, or otherwise don't paddle. You know, beginners. The classic "Blackberry" run is down the center with a slight left angle. Look for the green hump of water just below the top and split it with your boat. Paddle hard and punch through the haystack at the bottom. Eddy left or right - preferably left. The other popular line is the diagonal line from left to right. If you are good enough, and lucky enough, you can catch the wave above the haystack and surf it. "Blackberry Falls" is Class II+, Class III/III+ at levels above 4'.
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