Fall Creek Falls State Park to Highway 30Class IV-V
7 Miles
Avg Gradient 94 fpm
Max Gradient 252 fpm
Cane Creek
Cane Creek Photo of Ben Northcutt by Alex Harvey Gauge Information
Cane Creek
River DescriptionFall Creek Falls State Park.From Boatertalk, 12-2-02: Put in: Cable trail from Cane Creek Falls Nature Center and Overlook Wear your helmet, and 5.10's - very steep. Take Out: Hwy 30 bridge at 285 jct. Paddle up at put-in for best view of 80'+er in TN Rapids include: Pine Tree Falls, Crack-slot, Twin Towers (this hole flanked by huge rocks the site of many disasters), Corner Pocket (hole on left), Airplane turn, Hallway Falls, Rear Entry (now snuck left) Miles of class 2-3 then 1-2 follow, can be scrapy, always long. When the river splits 4 ways, pick R or L channel - still brushy but deeper watch for logs Daniel Talley adds Wrom: PNKMBIPBAR Thursday night it had rained a dab, only around an inch in these parts and not quite enough to get stuff goin to par. Richland Creek was running, but I wanted something new. Being disappointed in the situation, I strapped the boat on top of the car and headed west to Fall Creek Falls. For years I've been wanting to run Cane Creek, and being a semi-large watershed I figured it would have some water. It did, not much but enough was there for some sunny November fun. From the falls to the confluence of Fall Creek was a blast. Several IV+ made for some good fun, and I'm sure at higher levels class V would not be an overstatement for some of them. It had some of the best boulder garden drops I've seen, constant s-turns back to back with great climaxes at the end. After Fall Creek, it flattened out for a good 3/4 mile with an occassional class III. Then I came upon around three or four excellent drops, you know, those that have three or four slots to choose from, and only one of them not having a sieve with a tree in it. The trees were pretty bad in this 1 mile stretch, having to get out two or three times. The rest of the run I just sat back, enjoying the scenery on many many class-II shoal rapids. All was well, aside from the overwhelming feeling that I was running out of water. I thought to myself, surely I haven't outrun the water, as I crossed through several large pools, almost mini-lakes. Suddenly, I couldn't quite see the exit to the pool. Luckly I found a small exit, but yes, I was running out of water. The next thing I know, the water becomes very silty with an aqua color and I run this little wave train straight into a cliff. The cliff has three or four vertical slots where the water was entering. Over to the right was a 6-ft whirlpool, nothing violent, but interesting nonetheless. Getting next to the cliff, the air pressure made for an interesting sound. Over to the left was the dry riverbed that I walked for 100 yards or so and luckily found a road that eventually led to hwy 30. 45 minutes later a nice nursery owner took me back to my car. Interesting day. Maybe next time I'll wait until later in the season when that cave fills up and I can paddle happily to the bridge. Anyone else had similar experiences with this run or nearby watersheds? and two, is there a gauge in the park? -daniel Clay Wright helped out with: Paddle behind falls at low levels - no, haven't run em. Logs plague this run, but several class 4 and 5 rapids in virgin forest canyon. Watch for "Twin Towers" - named for the World Trade Center similarities. Was for the 2 big rocks flanking the drop. Now for the Big f*&$in hole. Set rope river right. 3 mile paddle out through scrapey-scenic class 1-2. Under 0'', much flow disappears. StreamTeam Status: verified
Last Updated: 2006-04-06 17:34:19
|
AW Membership Status
Please join AW.
To enjoy extra features of this website please register by clicking here.No permissions.