Horsepasture
2. US Route 281 to Lake Jocassee(Bust your Butt falls to the lake.)
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 5.4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 400 fpm |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 12, 2025 |
River Description
Local expert Ron Stewart
Class: III-VI
The Horsepasture has been designated a Wild and Scenic river from Hwy 281 toLake Jocassee. For more info click here.
First mile is 387ft, 467ft, 782ft, 42ft
Steepest half mile is 1200 feet starting at Windy Falls.
There are a several options on how to run the horsepasture. Putting in at 281 is not recommended due to a hostile landowner and past disputes. The first option is to put in above turtleback, and run down to just above rainbow falls, then hike back out. The trail out from rainbow is rather good. The problem here is you are hiking 3/4 mile one way to run a 20 foot slide, and then hiking 3/4 mile back out. This is a hike and huck, and is alot of effort for one drop.
The second option is to use the same put-in and run down to Stairstep falls, then hike back out. The trail from Stairstep falls to rainbow is not as good as rainbow to the parking lot. Below Stairstep falls is where the river get really steep.
The most popular option is to put in above turtleback and paddle to the brink of Windy Falls and then hike 3 miles and around 1000 vertical feet out of the gorge. The hike is tough, but if you are paddling the horsepasture, then you should be in good enough shape in the first place to hike out. There is only really one bad stretch that is really steep, and it lasts for about 3/4 mile. This gives you all the best whitewater, and though it is action ppacked, is really only a mile and a half from the putin. Right below turtleback, an easy slide with an off vert 15 foot drop at the end, get out on river left, because the class 6 150 foot Rainbow falls is right below. You will die if you go over it! Portage on the left and then putin at the bottom, after gaining a sense of why they call it rainbow falls.
The very next rap
...River Features
Bust Your Butt Falls aka Drift Falls
Class 2 move, but very high speed. There have been some back injuries here. Technically on private property. At the bottom of the falls is the Gorges State Park property line. Folks used to slide down this back in the day.
Put In
Paddlers wanting to run Turtle Back Falls often hike in and put in above it, and then promptly portage Rainbow Falls.
Turtleback Falls
Nasty hole at higher flows. And a 150 foot waterfall just around the corner.
Ugly Stuff
Don't run it blind without a guide. There is a line on the right and left.
Rainbow Falls
Mandatory portage, unless you're a hairboater named Rock.
Slab Falls
10ft waterfall that lands on a shelf. It gets run but has also broken the back of a kayaker before.
Stairstep Falls
There are essentially four main drops to this rapid. The first drop is often run to the right making the easy boof into the eddy on river right. The second drop is run on river left, ideally, off a nice flake rock that boofs you nicely over the hole below. The third drop is run on river left, avoiding the rocks that are in the center to river right area. The fourth drop is also run river left-ish.
Unnamed Boof
A roughly 5 foot boof just above Cornerpocket. Scout from river left. A hole forms at the base of the drop and it is slighly backed up and walled in by a large slab rock on river left. Boofing center seems to be a good line on this drop.
Corner Pocket
Scout from river left. This tricky rapid features a moderate sieve on river right that the large hole / curler in the drop can feed you in to. At reasonable levels, people have been pushed into this sieve / eddy portion of the rapid and have been able to get turned around and paddle out without incident. Run the final 4-5 foot drop on the right to avoid rocks that are on the bottom left of the drop.
Thrasher Pike A (First drop of Sidepocket Falls)
Enter in roughly the center a few feet to the right of a small flake / rooster tail. Drop down a few feet and proceed with the main flow left of the large rock slab in the middle of the rapid (with a slight overhanging rock feature). This move is followed up by a 10 foot boof into a large eddy on river left.
Thrasher Pike B (Sidepocket Falls)
Often portage on river left or run on river right. Scout from rocks in the center of the river and mind the stout hole that forms at the bottom of the rapid if you run it.
Highway to Heaven
Immediately after Thrasher Pike B. This rapid can be scouted on river left. Before running it, you should walk down the portage trail and check for wood in the final drop. The top part of the rapid is a long, low angle slide. The line through here is largely where ever the river pushes you, just be ready to be on gaurd to maintain your balance. There is a brief flat section in the lower half of this rapid that signals the final slide. The bottom of this final section has a decently powerful hole at the bottom that you want to make sure to boof over. This hole is very similar in nature to the Speedtrap on the Green River, NC. Basically, it flows downstream on river right, and upstream on river left.
Sieve Rapid
This is essentially the final rapid before Windy Falls. Scout on river right. This rapid is often run on the river right side, down the slide and boofing over the small hole that forms at its base. Shortly after this, you boof the river right side of the main drop, being careful of the rocks and sieve that form down below.
The usual takeout is just downstream from this rapid on river left. DO NOT continue downstream without significant scouting and preparation. There have been a few descents of these top drops above Windy Falls, but getting flushed downstream from one of these means certain death.
Windy Falls
Completely unrunnable. Several hundred feet tall with multiple unrunnable drops. Mandatory portage on river left.
Slovakian Wax Job aka Rooster Tail Falls
Massive 50ft+ slide. First ran by Ryan McAvoy & Michael Ferraro.
Lake Jocassee
Its a long paddle out, so arrange for a boat pickup.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportA great day with the three of us running laps on Turtleback and then making our way downstream in packrafts. At this flow there was time to scout and make your moves, and still lots of fun to be had. No idea what the gage reading was, but FB Rosman was 325 and Chattooga at Burrells was 210.
New wood in the bottom drop of corner pocket. Scout!
Gorges state park is now open, rangers are really nice to boaters as long as we stay respectful....enjoy HP it's an awesome run...the shuttle is nice now...you just park in the grassy ridge parking area and hike to rainbow, then once you reach windy falls the trail brings you back to your car. no need for shuttle now unless you want to run bust your butt and turtle back. the park closes @ 7:30pm but you can always leave through the gate you just can't return until morning. Thanks, Jwall....also the old trail that took you to turtle back is closed...I spoke with a ranger about it and he said they don't want people using it anymore due to conflict with the state forest.
Toby MacDermott ducks a log on the Horsepasture, NC. This rapid is below Stairway to Heaven and is often seal launched on the right to avoid this log.
Toby MacDermott runs the final slide of Highway to Heaven.
Adrienne Levknecht at the top of Thrasher Pike B.
Toby MacDermott runs the top drop of Sidepocket / Thrasher Pike A while John Grace films. Note the double paddles Toby is paddling with as he found one on this particular run
Adrienne Levknecht runs the first drop of Stairstep Falls.
Toby MacDermott runs the second drop of Stairstep Falls.