The following description is courtesy of The Asheville Area Boating Beta Page (boatingbeta.com). To view it in a new window, click here.
Class
Flow
It is often true that when the TVA's Little Pigeon at Sevierville (not the same as the USGS's Little Pigeon at Sevierville) gauge is between 1,500 and 3,000 cfs, Big Creek is running. Despite being located on the next watershed East, the USGS Cataloochee gauge isn't a very good predictor of Big Creek flows.
The Oconaluftee and TVA Little Pigeon at Sevierville flows are both available on the TVA Streamflows site and from the TVA by telephone: 800-238-2264.
I-40 West to the first TN exit (Exit 451, Waterville). Turn left at the bottom of the ramp, pass under I-40, follow the road over the bridge, turn left and head up the Big Pigeon. The road will turn to follow Big Creek at its confluence with the Big Pigeon, crossing Big Creek twice. Stop at the second bridge and check the gauge. Then continue on to the road's end at the parking lot below the Big Creek Campground. The gravel road you'll cross just before entering the park is the scenic route to the Cataloochee Campground.
Combining Upper and Lower Big Creek yields a 7.3 mile run falling at an average of 216 fpm.
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Hazards include the extremely continuous gradient and frequent fallen trees. This is full on creeking; a safe run requires frequent scouting and great alertness to the possibility of downed limbs just under the water's surface and jammed in undercuts. Midnight Hole is the vertical drop clearly visible from the trail on the hike in. It is an extremely popular swimming hole in the summer. Just upstream of Midnight Hole, at a point the trail comes very close to the creek, is Monster. On one recent run an extremely accomplished and well-known local paddler pitoned and pinned head underwater in Monster. Through good fortune another paddler in his party -- unaware of the pin -- ran the drop and knocked the pinned boat and paddler loose. The next boater down ran the drop unaware of the carnage below, pinned and swam. His broken boat stayed pinned for two days. Run the left line at Monster or walk it! This is by no means a complete list of Upper Big Creek's hazards; such a list would be impossible to compile as it would constantly change as rocks shifted (the apparent cause of the recent problems on what used to be a popular line through Monster) and trees jammed.
This is a gorgeous run on a pristine river whose entire reach is within a National Park. Please respect other users and the natural environment. Minimize your impact in all ways possible.
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There is a line but it is kind of scary. above it take a narrow slot in the middle and push into the pool below then sart working to the left and make sure you have lots of left angle. power onto the rock on the left and slide down it and over a couple of branches. If you dont then your stern will most likely be caught by the current and drag you into the tree backwards. It is very doable as myself and someone else did on monday but the risk is still there. Scout it no matter what and decide for youself
11 years ago
by Mark Singleton
by
Little Pigeon at Sevierville (AW#6418)
Oconaluftee at Birdtown (AW#6422)
OCONALUFTEE RIVER AT BIRDTOWN, NC (AW#1778)
458 cfs 01h07m
1.78 ft 01h07m
The readings above are for the Oconaluftee River, which is the next drainage to the south of Big Creek. Upper Big Creek is almost certainly running when the Oconaluftee is between 1,200 and 2,400 cfs;ÃÂ it is generally running when the Oconoluftee is as low 850 cfs.ÃÂ
It is often true that when the TVA's Little Pigeon at Sevierville (not the same as the USGS's Little Pigeon at Sevierville) gauge is between 1,500 and 3,000 cfs, Big Creek is likely to be running.
The main way to tell if BC is running is to pay attention to the rain. Pin Oak Gap is an excellent rain gauge for Big Creek. It is only 2 miles from the south side of the watershed, and usually if Pin Oak Gap gets rain, Big Creek gets it too. Look for an inch in the past 24 hours during times of good saturation, and 1.5 inches in drier times.
Cataloochee Creek is another indicator. If Cataloochee gets over 350-400 cfs, assuming even rainfall distribution, BC should be running. Usually though, there are usually acute local variations in rainfall totals between these two watersheds.
During wet times, BC is the most frequently running class 4-5 creek run of its character. It runs more often than the West Prong, Tremont, or Middle Prong/Ramsey's. It has been known to run for weeks during rainy summer periods, providing a sweet creeking fix nowhere else to be found.
Currently the only physical gauge is located on the Mt. Sterling Road bridge. The gauge is spray painted yellow and resides on the upstream side of the midstream river left pylon. This gauge is not located in a very good spot and has a significant surge. Take 10 readings every 3 seconds and average them to get a reading that most can agree on. Here is the breakdown on levels:
2.1-2.3 - You must be desparate.
2.3-2.5 - Some people might call you desparate but you can still get your boof on.
2.5-2.7 - This is the realm of legitimate low
2.7-3.0 - perfect for mortals, a nice medium
3.0-3.3 - medium high, with the 3.0 range being the perfect level, and the 3.3 range changing the run from class 4+ to intense and scary class 5.
3.3-3.8 - This is plain high. Many do it at 3.5 once and say that was enough. Fun, but enough. If you do it at 4 feet, once might be all you get from Big Creek ever again. Anything above 3.5 is officially too high for all but a few junkies.
Permits are not required for this reach.
35.718399 ,-83.164200
35.750801 ,-83.109100
NA
We have no additional detail on this route. Use the map below to calculate how to arrive to the main town from your zipcode.
on Big Creek @1. Walnut Bottom to NPS Campground
Boofing baby gorillla
Canoe - Midnight Hole
Midnight Hole Upper Big Creek
Action Alley
G-Spot Upper Big Creek
Action Alley Baby Gorrila
Baby Gorrilla Looking Back Up
Natalie Matthews @ Second Island Layaway
Rapids Right After SuperMan
SuperMan Put In
Monster NO H2O
Mexico @ SuperMan Upper Big Creek
TR on Midnite
Tony on fun cascade at bottom of quality boogie below midnite
Tony at midnight hole
Kirk at midnight hole
Getting out above Monster
Big Creek is so beautiful
Upper West Prong rapid below upper bridge
Kirk and Tony chilling on warm day
Looking down from the upper bridge
Upper Big Creek
Just above put-in bridge
Bridge at put-in
put-in
1st rapid below put-in bridge
Monster from the bottom
Entrance to Monster
Midnight Hole
Downstream of Midnight Hole
Hike in
styln baby gorilla
Big Creek
Big Drop on Big Creek
If someone gets hurt on a river, or you read about a whitewater-related injury, please report it to American Whitewater. Don't worry about multiple submissions from other witnesses, as our safety editors will turn multiple witness reports into a single unified accident report.
The recent death of Chris Clark at Python Rapid on North Carolina's Cheoah River is the third at this site in the last six years. In each case, the person who died was an expert paddler and their paddling partners did not see exactly what happened. Let's take a close look at the Cheoah below Bear Creek Falls and develop strategies for future runs. The river here is very fast and continuous. After a fast lead-in (Chaos), the river drops over Bear Creek Falls, a 12' drop. Below, most of the flow pushes toward the river right channel (Python). Ferrying over to the easier river left channel (the West Prong) requires careful boat control. Python itself contains several nasty holes and sieves, with a bad hole blocked by a boulder at the bottom. There is a good route through it, but paddlers need to plan their route carefully. Scouting is a good idea for first timers, although catching eddies and getting out is not going to be easy. Groups need to stay together.. The rapid is tough enough that you can't watch your buddy all the time, but you can be ready to help if needed. Click through for links to the accident reports, photos, and comments from expert Cheoah River paddlers. (Photo above by Boyd Ruppelt)
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