Watauga River

Public put-in managed by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.

aka Beech Creek.  This rapid is located  just at the confluence with Beech Creek on river left.  This is a great place to warm up with some nice eddy hopping.  The main feature of this rapid is the pour over hole at the bottom of the drop.  The traditional line goes right through this hole, hit it straight and power through as there is a broach rock (one of the many rocks coming from Beech Creek) on river left just downstream of the hole.  Watch for wood here after high water events.

This is the first of the Watauga's taller, meatier rapids.  Generally most people enter on far river right taking advantage of a couple of eddies to see most of the rapid.  From here most take one of two routes.  1) ferry to river left and enjoy an awesome double boof with each drop about 3-4' tall.  2) go down on the right and finish up working against the current to be in the center to right.  Beware that at the bottom of this line on the left is an undercut that came into play after the 2004 hurricanes.  This rock gets covered up at around 400 cfs.

aka Pinball.  Sh#t-kicker is a significant boulder garden style rapid with a pin slot at the bottom.  Just for good measure the large boulder rock to the immediate right (about river center) of the pin spot is sieved out as well.  Generally the line is from extreme river right, then hauling tush towards river left. The current towards the end is deceptively strong and wants to push the unwary boater left to right straight towards the pin slot/sievey boulder.  If this happens,  you can act quickly and boogie over to far river right to avoid the pin spot and bang down some easier stuff.

Hydro is a complex rapid full of sticky spots, funky water, and broachy rocks that culminates with a drop into a whopper of a hole. Scout or easy portage on river left. If you portage, beware that the river left eddy at the bottom strongly recirculates into the hole so paddle like you mean it.

Good boof rapid.  Punch the top hole then quickly decide left or right.  The standard line is to punch the hole, go left and boof, land, boogie, then boof left again at the bottom.  The right line involves paddling around a sieve area that demands close attention.

Typical Watauga rapid with left to right to left ferrying and eddy work in strong current while dodging a big hole or two.

This is a rapid in many acts.  Start with narrow slots, then add some great ferry work, mix in some super boofs and a few very serious holes then shake and serve.  Multiple lines and entertaining activities can be found here - for instance, at lower levels you can ferry Around the World by ferrying and attaining around the large rock just up stream of a signifcant ledge hole - don't mess with this move at higher flows as the hole becomes very mean and unforgiving should you fall off the world into it.

BJ is identified as two slots on river right.  The true BJ line is to take the left slot between a very large boulder and another smaller rock on the right.  This is a relatively thin line through the slot driving left to right to avoid a large undercut rock downstream on the left. Also there is a tree wedged just under water into the left side boulder.  It usually doesn't come into play but it's disconcerting to see halfway down nonetheless.  It can be sneaked by going down the straight forward slot all the way on river right.  A couple of notes here.  1)  There is a tree hanging down into the river on far river right, it's easily seen from the top of the rapid and at higher flows (375 & up) it can certainly come into play if running either of the lines described above.  Not a deal breaker but something to definitely be aware of.   2)  There is a deceptively sticky hole in the run out of both these lines - punch it on the right.  Other very entertaining lines that demand much more attention can be found on far river left as well.

aka Anaconda.  Identify this one by noting a large expanse of rock on river right and a sharp bend in the river to the right around this rock outcrop. This is the most continuous and longest rapid of the harder ones on the Watauga. There are multiple eddies that can be used to break it up. The top half is before it bends right around the rock and is fairly straightforward. From the top of the rapid, a fairly large eddy on river left can be seen about halfway down as soon as the river bends right. The eddy can hold several boats BUT the entrance is heavily guarded by one or two rocks that can be deceptively hard to see level depending. Hitting these rocks will likely result in 1) missing the eddy and 2) a botched line into the meatier part of the rapid. From the eddy, one can take in another eddy next to the really big rock on river right - it is best approached by ferrying/surfing the nasty looking hole across to it. If the eddy doesn't look good or you blow the ferry, then begin working right to avoid the significant pourover holes downstream. The rapid ends with another sharp cut back to the left.

Fairly straightforward drop for the Watauga if it wasn't for the high pin potential. The standard line is to start center heading left, punch a small hole just to the right of the left bank.  There's an eddy just to the left of this hole that sometimes autoeddys you if go way left too soon, this oftentimes leads to backwards runs of the main drop, usually in the right spot but nervewracking and not recommend at all.  After punching the hole, head left looking for a small flake of rock on the left that sails you over a shallow landing, that's the line to hit. Being off line by a foot or two can land you in the right side of the drop which has high vertical pin potential. Like Watauga Falls, Knuckles gets more ugly & consequential as the water drops.

Diana's Ledge is wide 3-4 foot ledge that can be quite retentive, see Chris Bell's account by clicking the Boating Beta link on the main page to learn how the rapid got its name and the lessons of coldwater drowning. The hole can be mostly skirted by taking the sloping left to right narrow tongue found on river left.   There is a complete sneak on far river left when flows get up around 300cfs.

aka Watauga Falls.  Stateline is always a crowd pleaser. To scout, be on the lookout for a small beachy area (level depending) on the left shortly downstream of Diana's Ledge. The lead in to Stateline is one of the trickier parts of this rapid knowing there is a 16ft drop looming downstream if a mistake is not quickly corrected. The lead in begins river center and proceeds left punching or skirting some good holes before 1) running the falls direct or 2) catching the large Chapel Eddy to the right of the main drop. Once in Chapel one can get out on the large rocks to the right of the drop but no clear view of the main line is possible. Alternately, a super fun seal launch that is actually taller than the Falls can be had into the big eddy at the base of the rapid if common sense takes hold before you can run it. One wants to start and land the falls angled right and on the right to avoid the large shallow rock on the left. The rock on the left becomes much more consequential the lower the level. The line becomes much more narrow so don't dry out from running too far up on the right side of the chute lest you get redirected left; be absolutely sure of your line and your boof at all levels but particularly once the levels gets below around 200.  If needed, there is a trail on river left that will take you up to hwy 321.

This is a fun, stress free sliding drop after the juice of Stateline Falls. First timers often run it backwards as a modern alternative to Rewind which has a really fun boof in its own right.

aka Brown's Ferry.  By this time, this rapid will stand out as standard Watauga fare.  Start left and ferry across hole above pin spots and nasty broach rock to river right then punch holes finishing back to center left.

Your last opportunity for an awesome 5' boof going off the left side of the rock midstream.

Go left of the island to reach the takeout shortly downstream on the left.  Look for a set of wooden stairs, these take you to a short trail back to the parking area.  Don't miss it or you'll end up with a long lake paddle.

American Whitewater purchased and manages this paddler take-out, thanks to generous paddlers in memory of local paddler Sherwood Horine. Please drive slow on Tester Road into the site and be very respectful of our neighbors (no loud music, etc). No camping or fires. Help us keep the site in great shape, and remember to support AW.