Big Marrowbone Creek

These pictures are from a solo run I did in April 2015. I've run it several times since then. There is a USGS gauge on Sycamore Creek, which is the next stream to the north. I am still working on flows levels. I know when Sycamore is running 1,000 cfs and climbing, Big Marrowbone Creek is runnable. I pulled up old Sycamore guage data from April 2015. I am pretty sure my run in the pictures was Sunday afternoon on 04/19/15, when Sycamore was running 2,500 cfs.

Don't let the 9.3 miles discourage you. BMC has a surprising 12ft/mile gradient and current so you'll get to the take-out within 3 hours. This gem is like nothing else within 50 miles of Nashville. I would rate 30+ rapids Class I, another 5 Class I+, and 2-3 Class II.

Remember that first collapsing wave/hole you surfed and thought you were the best. The wave/hole was barely big enough to hold you, but you were its master. BMC has 30+ surfing wave/holes. It also has 'Porch Song,' a Class II directly under a homeowner's overhanging deck. A 1/2 mile downstream, you will pass under a covered bridge and enter 'The Flume,' a 300 yds rapid with a Class II part. The landowner stacked 100s of very large, flat rocks on the edge of river right for several hundred feet. This causes BMC to become 'channelized.' The current speeds up, the waves get taller, and several large wave/holes appear. A blast! When you are not surfing, the alternating overhanging moss covered cliffs are beautiful. Alot of side stream waterfalls as well.