Graves Creek
1st bridge upstream to Locust Fork
| Difficulty | III |
| Length | 5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 100 fpm |
| Gauge | Locust Fork Near Cleveland, Al. |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 2.34 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 21, 2015 |
Graves only runs immediately following a good rainstorm when the Locust is on the rise. Cheap thrills if you are in the area and lucky enough to catch it. Most of the action is in the first quarter mile of the run. Put in at the bridge on Mardis Mill Road. Shortly after you'll see the horizon line for the falls. If you've never run it before, scout your line before you put in. The drop isn't as clean as Baby on Tellico; there are a couple of rocks on both sides of the landing people have broken teeth and boats there. With that said, the falls are commonly run about ten feet off the right bank.
Below the falls and throughout the run, watchout for strainers. Wood tends to accumulate in this small creek. The superslide is fairly straight-forward -- just stay off the right wall/undercut. After that, it is class 2 all the way to the Upper Locust. If you paddle Graves all the way to the Locust, you'll come out about 3.6 miles above the normal Highway 79 put in for the Locust.
Water quality is pretty bad here due to the run off from the Tyson Chicken plant.
See also www.alabamawhitewater.com.
Put in at the bridge on Mardis Mill Road. Immediately you will see the entrance to the Falls.
A 15' vertical drop into a pool.
About 100 yards of shallow, fast moving water on a bedrock slide. Terminates into a nice recovery pool.
Feb 24, 2018
*Some folks ran Graves for the first time in early February 2018. There is a lot of wood in it, multiple portages. There was some carnage. This is an easy run but it is still a tight little creek. Graves needs wood cut out. Otherwise running past the slide below the falls becomes a PITA without much payoff.
Photo courtesy of Derek Williams.
