Norton Creek
Above Thorpe Lake
| Difficulty | IV-V(V+) |
| Length | 3 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 17, 2025 |
The entirety of this section is on private property as it flows into Lake Glenville. Several major waterfalls are on this section.
From Boatertalk:
After a couple of inches at the house last night i decided to hit something local in Jackson County. Everyone I talked to was going to the West Prong or Big Creek. I decided to pass for something new and local so I headed up to above Lake Glenville and began the search for well lubericated creekbed. I found what i was looking for off of North Norton road down Lake Shore dr. I scouted the first big seventy foot slide/cascade (Catalyst Falls) from Lake Shore Dr. and decided it had enough water to slide down on and spied a spot (on private property with no tresspassing signs in somebody's front yard) to scout (Luke Duke's Zute Chute) the next drop. I figured it was all good to go, so i slung my nuts over my shoulder and preceeded to gear up. I put on at the bridge on North Norton road and floated the first few hundred yards of flat water ran a Class II rapid and the committed to falling the 70+ feet down Catalyst Falls. I started down the middle and broke left at the end. The ride down was rough, bouncy, and scrapy, but typical of southeastern dirt dog low boating. Then, I paddled a hundred yard down stream and saw that no body was home at the riverfront house so I hopped out and scouted Luke Duke's Zute Chute. The right line was undercut, with wood and major peaton potential. The left fell 20+ feet over a spout into a shallow 15 foot pool backed up by wood and then ran out another 7 or 8 feet down a bony rapid into Lake Glenville. The 20+ foot landing was rough but I am glad I landed flat. I walked back up somebody's dock and began the short walk back to the truck and resumed the search for more whitewater. A great Park and Huck special.
If anybody knows anything else about this run let me know.
Luke G. Wayak123@aol.com
Editor's not
...May 17, 2024
Nov 12, 2002
From KindKreekFreak on Boatertalk:
nothing prediculary deadly about the drops. The wood wouldn't be to terminal if you were caught in it. Being flipped on Catalyst falls could be pretty painful. The rocks were pretty abrasive on the big slide. If you went deep at the Zute Chute you could break a boat or hurt some feet. With all of the variance in the rating scale it is hard to say how it would rank. It was harder than some stuff that gets called class five that might not should be. so i will call a class five but if your class five standards are higher than mine it could be class four. On a 5.1 to 5.10 scale i would say 5.1 to 5.2. Maybe this will help.
P.s. thanks Bradley for the AW post.
