Paint Creek
Kelley Falls to Dudley Falls
| Difficulty | III+(IV) |
| Length | 3.2 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 14, 2024 |
River Description
Paint Creek is a pretty roadside run close to Hot Springs, NC. The run is bookended by the 20-foot not quite vertical Kelley Falls and the very fun slide called Dudley Falls and its ledgey lead-in, with just a bit of warm up and cool down, and you can also paddle all the way to the French Broad. The two named drops are a full grade harder than the rest of the run, which consists of smaller 2-3 foot ledges and rapids. Paint Creek is woody, and as of 2024 required quite a few low-stress wood portages. There is ample camping and hiking opportunities in the corridor, and the easy road access makes scouting and picking the right section for your group pretty easy.
River Features
No river features have been added
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportWith Big Laurel running 15 inches or so we headed over to Paint Creek very late in the day. There was a bit too much wood to do the whole run in the time we had until dark, so we opted to skip the top part (sadly including Kelley Falls) and put in at a lower bridge with a cool ledge rapid under it. Neither of us had done Paint Creek before, but it was easy to figure out. Dudley Falls was a very fun rapid. We took out downstream at the Dog Hobble Trailhead just below a nice little sliding drop.