Big Laurel Creek

Put on at the upstream end of the large river-left parking lot. In this spot the river is very close to the lot and small trails connect.

Pinball / 1st Rapid is the first horizon line you come to. Almost all paddlers run the opening left of center. At the bottom is a rock squarely in the most direct path. One option is to boof left into the eddy above and left of the rock; this is fairly easy. The other option (shown in the photo) is to angle right of the bottom rock. The challenge is a hidden underwater rock that you will hit if you cheat right too soon. It can pinball you into the bottom rock you are trying to avoid, which is much more of a problem at lower water levels. At higher levels, the pinball rock is farther underwater and you can move right earlier. Run the left-hand chute. The right-hand chute, which appears to be the obvious route, leads directly into a pinning rock.

Stairstep is the 1st horizon line after Pinball. The first 3 steps are not large, but by the 4th one you need to be lined up properly to run the big drop into the hole (not a keeper). This is followed by a succession of fairly large breaking waves. Stairstep gets harder with higher water levels; above a foot it is fairly beefy.  Next to the 1st step there is a large boulder in the center of the river (boaters will pass to the right of it) with a fairly large eddy behind it. A lot of boaters catch this eddy. You can do so but be aware that there is a sieve at the lower end of that eddy that a few people have been sucked into. Fortunately all flushed out until December 2019.  On Dec 15 April Morton was swept into the sieve, which also had a log in it. The members of her group responded quickly but were not able to extract her in time.

Suddy Hole consists of two drops. Most boaters eddy out after the first drop. As you look over the horizon line of the second, you will see a “dead” tree across the creek at the bottom of the rapid. The tree is still partly alive and has a prominent “Y” about 15 feet up from the base. If you aim for this tree, you will be on the most commonly run line. The nasty recirculating Suddy Hole is on river right. There is also an exciting line on river left at higher levels (above 6 inches).

Prelude (sometimes called False Narrows, Upper Narrows, and sometimes considered part of the Narrows) is a longish rapid and fairly intense, especially at higher water levels.

Start on river right and move toward river center over the first drop. Run the slide that immediately follows down the center.

The path with enough water takes you to river right and to the base of a cliff. One good stroke at the right time keeps you from being pushed into it. Peter Van G is stylin it in the photo.

Small entry drop, then the main flume, run on river right. Smooth tongue leads into a breaking wave (low levels) or hole (medium and up). Hole is usually punched fairly easily.

Humble Pie (aka Commitment Eddy) is the last rapid before the French Broad. Below about 8 inches, you are forced to take a route on the far left. The gap between the left bank and the 1st boulder is about 15 ft. Avoid the extreme left - i.e. the 5 ft closest to the left bank.  The first hole tends to surf you to the left, the second more to the right. The boater in the picture is in the 1st hole. Above 8 inches a couple lines open up near the center. Below 0, it starts getting boney and one line is to make the 'commitment' to catch the eddy behind that 1st large boulder. If you don't commit or blow the line you will be on a pinning rock. At those low levels, most people choose to make a couple quick turns around the partially exposed rocks.

To skip the 3 mile section on the French Broad River, some paddlers take out at the railroad trestle on river left and carry 0.7 miles up the railroad tracks to the Stackhouse access on the French Broad River. Another option is to hike the river-left creekside trail back up to your car. This is a great option for those with packrafts and avoids the need for a shuttle.

The most common way to paddle Big Laurel Creek is to continue onto Section 9 of the French Broad River and take out in Hot Springs at the access point on the upstream river right side of the Highway 25 Bridge.