Neuse
0.5 Falls Dam
| Difficulty | I-III+ |
| Length | 0.38 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Neuse River Near Falls, Nc |
| Flow Rate as of 38 minutes | 82 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 12, 2025 |
Park and Play spot.
Falls Dam is located in north Raleigh and release from the dam is controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. COE will release water when Falls Lake level is above 251.5 ft. The release flow depends on the amount of extra water in the lake and projected future rain events, and can be anywhere between 150 cfs and 6000 cfs. The playing at dam various depending on the flow.
700 - 1000 cfs (Upper Area): immediately below the dam is a good park & play spot. Good for low angle cartwheels on the river right hole, and flat spin in the center wave. This level is great for novice and intermediate paddlers. Nothing worth going below the highway bridge playboating wise.
700 - 2000 cfs (Lower Area): Good eddy lines and currents below the bridge on river right channel for beginners to learn ferries and peel outs.
2000 cfs (Upper Area): The center wave become super retentive, effortless spins and blunts. A new wave forms on the river left at the very top that's good for flatspins. At this level, the upper playing area is for advanced paddlers that have bombproof rolls. A swim could easily end in the trees/bushes directly downstream.
2000 cfs (Lower Area): A couple hundred yards downstream below the highway bridge on the river right channel are three ledges that are good for beginner/intermediate paddlers, side surfing and 360?s oppoturnities abound. The river left channel below the bridge has some catch on the fly 360 holes.
3000 - 4000 cfs (Upper Area): the river left hole becomes big and extremely retentive. Multiple wathunk moves can be performed in a single ride. It is shallow so cartwheels in a longer boat is not possible. It's just about impossible to ferry across to the center wave at this level. The only other way to get on the center wave is to seal launch off the big rock on river right and catch the wave on
...Oct 12, 2024
I think my water level was considered lowish to maybe low mid, but it was fun and challenging enough. The top wave was difficult to catch for someone at my skill level, but more skilled paddlers would probably get on it a bit better. I didn't try launching from the rip rap higher up, but if I had, the wave looked pretty wide and would have maybe been easier to catch. I maybe caught the wave next to the big red rock eddy area twice, but didn't stay on very long. Downstream I paddled both channels and found some easier surfing. The river right channel had a couple of fun boofs and river left had a bit more novice friendly play. Overall was a good one hour or so workout.
Feb 3, 2024
I ran this today pretty low. There were two waves immediately below the dam that were decent and worth playing in despite the picture looking very small. Below the bridge to the take out was more fun in my opinion river left of the island with two more waves to play in and a couple of easy drops. River right was fun at the first ledge, but was not very interesting other than that. I'd recommend at least double flow than what I had, but it was better than nothing. I'll probably only be back if there's 1500 cfs minimum and nothing else around running, but it should be interesting once they put a whitewater park here.
May 16, 2011
The location of the proposed park already has some nice features but lacks any type of agreement regarding release levels. 1600 cfs on weekends or evenings would work. Water conservation first.... but when possible, the release levels and timing need to be improved if the 'falls' is to be considered a recreational resource for the region.
The weeks-long release of 304 cfs shows that there has been ample water available to allow for scheduled, recreational releases. Why are they not doing this?
Mar 29, 2008
A committee has been formed to push forward plans to construct a whitewater park below Falls Dam. Info on the project and committee can be found at www.fallswhitewaterpark.org. The committee thanks AW for their support of this park project.
