Santeetlah
3. Forest Service road 81 to Santeetlah Lake(Lower)
| Difficulty | II-IV |
| Length | 3.8 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 15, 2017 |
Projects
Western North Carolina is home to the highest mountains in the eastern US, abundant rainfall, globally significant biodiversity, and large tracts of federal lands. In combination these things add up to an incredible array of whitewater rivers and streams that have long been paddling classics. While many communities rely [...]Read More
River Description
This is a nice pleasant intro to creeking and a scenic Class III-IV trip in its own right. The stream is situated in a beautiful section of the Joyce Kilmer Forest. The first two miles are class 2/3. When you go under NC-1127 bridge the river bends to the left and the gradient starts to pick up. Most of the rapids are clean and boat scoutable. The highlights are some nice bedrock low angle slides and drops.
There used to be a dam about 1.5 miles past the NC-1127 bridge that required portage. It was built in the 1960s to keep native fish from returning after they were poisoned to make way for stocked exotic trout. The dam was removed by the US Forest Service in 2016 and they did a great job of trying to re-establish the look and feel of the native channel. Now there is a small bedrock ledge there. Kudos to the USFS!
There are two put in options. You can either put in at the campground on NC-1127, or put in a little further upstream at the USFS RD 81 bridge. Take out at the pullout at the lakes headwaters.
Santeetlah can usually be run pretty quickly, I recommend heading over to [Snowbird Creek](
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/river-detail/1124/) and trying to catch it too.
River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportMostly Class 3. Good surf wave below the dam.
Just a neat atmosphere after a brief thunderstorm. After paddling the Cheoah, we were fortunate to get a run on the Lower Santeetlah on the way to our campsite.
This is a good intro like he said but things to note are there is one shallow double ledge even if you think the water is high enough to cover the ledge it probably isn't so i recomend trying to run it horizontal and land flat incase it is shallow, also it is boat scoutable but prob have a look if its your first time, then on down a bit the river curves hard right and you want to hit the middle or left side where the rapid is cause a rock blocks the right hand side, then after a bit you will reach a dam which if it has enough water flowing can be run and if you have enough balls can be run also like he said good wave and at high levels it can be awesome and there are 2 more semi signifigant rapids after the wave then you will come down to the lake, its a fun run run if its going so give it a try.