Bee Creek
Taft Center or County Bridge at Glade Creek to Caney Fork
| Difficulty | III-V |
| Length | 8.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Caney Fork |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 19, 2013 |
River Description
This is a beautiful river with many cliffs that remind me of the great Russel Fork. It has the classic emerald green water that the plateau is famous for and enough vertical to keep life interesting. Bee tends to runs a little longer than the Caney Fork because it is steeper and channels very well. This run is harder than the Caney Fork and I venture to say harder than Cane Creek (Fall Creek Falls). Bring your Boof stroke and boat control on this one. Some of the most consistent rapids on the plateau once in the gorge. This run often gets overlooked because of the lack of beta and shuttle length. DO NOT WRITE THIS RUN OFF. Hopefully my updated shuttle situation will shed some light on this place so more boaters can experience this great run as I did.
If you use the Bee Creek putin you have a 1-1.5 miles of flat water before you get to the dam. Walk the dam on river left and there is a graded road on the left to the river bank at the bottom. Once you put in below the dam the rapids start. there is a 5 foot ledge, then an awesome class 4 slide. there are a few more smaller rapids untill a class 4 that is right at the confluence of Glade creek. After Glade comes in on the left there are several class 2 and 3 rapids for 3-4 miles. If you were paying attention you will have noticed a building and no tresspassing signs on river left after the 3-4 miles of the class 2-3. Very shortly after the buildings and signs the gorge will start. You will start to see horizon lines and rock jumbles. Several of these rapids are boat scoutable, but when in doubt, GET OUT AND SCOUT!!!!. As with any run in the southeast with lots of gradient there are several sieves and undercuts. After the gorge you have maybe one mile of class 2-3 until you get to the Caney Fork / takeout.
Take-out is at Caney Fork confluence. On the shuttle you have to pick the lesser of two evils. One option is to have a long drive to HWY 285 ( also called Glade Creek Rd, or Lonewood Rd) to put in on th
...River Features
Gauge
Gauge
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportScott's Gulf Wilderness State Park is Tennessee's newest state park. It includes both sides of the Upper Caney Fork run minus the first mile or two. It includes both sides of the bottom 40% of the Bee Creek run. It includes the both sides of most of the Lower Upper Caney Fork run that puts-in at Scott's Gulf Road.
These 2 signs mark the end of the road and the start of the river
Nice boof in 2nd drop, typical undercuts below
Pushy approach to high volume boof!
Bee Creek Hike up from Scott's Gulf - 2.5 miles for all the rapids.
Bee is a big step up in creekiness from Caney Fork but can be run just as often. Watch out for sieves as there are some BIG ones!
Kirk Eddleman showed me a cool trick that makes Bee much more accessible.
For a 90 min walk from the confluence you can run all the rapids with no shuttle!
Paddle the flat water across Caney Fork and up Bee from confluence to the rapids, paddle / hike upstream on river left and look for orange tape marking a trail up onto a higher berm - follow trail along river upstream and over a taller bench then down to a big pool. Paddle that pool upstream to the end and you will see an old road on river left. Set watch.. plan to hike about an hour. Follow that old road to Rose Cave access and past it - upstream and slightly up hills for about 1 mile before it peaks out high above the gorge, then it's another mile flat then downhill to a creek crossing or two - Look for flagging tape and old cans, 2 white boundary signs, that sound of rapids will have been drawing you in at this point. Follow yellow blazes to river access. If you look upstream and see rapids.. you didn't go far enough. The top 3 rapids are back to back so make sure you put in with flat water above. This is the very top of the best gradient! Follow Pink Tape to scramble down to the river and SCOUT this first series of drops as well as several downstream. Like Richland, this is not an eddy-hop / boat-scouting run until you know it well - you will be scouting a lot! This run has some big boots and slots and a lot of bang for the buck as most of the gradient of Caney Fork is condensed into this short stretch. Enjoy!
Ran Bee Creek when the Bee Creek gage was 0' and Caney Fork gage was 1.85. The level was slightly above medium. I would paddle this from -6' to +6' on the Bee Creek gage. (but thats just a guess, since this was my first time on the run)
The shuttle took 1 hour 15 minutes one way, with 20 minutes spent just driving out on Scotts Gulf Road. A 4WD isn't necessary but highly recommended. If you have a 2WD you MUST have good clerance AND a bit of skill to drive through 2 or 3 really rutted spots.
If you navigate using Delorme Gazetteer, I have a big warning for you. On Page 40, D-4, right on the White and Cumberland County line is a road named Rogers Creek Road. It looks like a great shuttle road, however, its really an old logging road. It is too muddy for 2wd and too slow to even bother with if you have 4WD. Go another way and avoid this long slow bumpy road and having to pull your 2WD friend out of the mud twice before giving up and backtracking to a real road....or something like that.
My team put in on Glade Creek. Asides from the 2 hr (both ways) shuttle, this is a schweet run. Class 3 for 4 miles. Wide, spread out. Then the action picks up.It has a little over a mile of Class 3+, 4, 4+ rapids back to back. Makes the section a Class 5, IMHO.
After that, a smooth out, just before the Caney Fork confluence.
I'm not sure of the level, but I know I did the Spring City Piney the day before @ 3 ft, and this creek was running at a medium-low range.
Marshall Fox successfully exiting Squeeze Play.
Geoff Kohl boofing the first part of a long technical rapid. Actually, that discribes about 90% of Bee Creeks rapids.
Milt Aitken running Squeeze Play. You can see the squeeze on the right side of the photo. The left squeeze rock is undercut and the right is a seive. Now thats FUN!
Marshall Fox running Squeeze Play. The large rock on the right of the photo is undercut with a swirly hole and the rock I am standing on is a seive.
Stinger is one of the larger rapids on Bee. There is a submerged rock (stinger) at the bottom of the drop which forms a wave hole and strong eddy line. So, the object is to charge from left to right and end up in the eddy below. This rapid would be right at home on the Gauley.
Nice!
The Bee Creek gage is actually on Glade Creek at the put-in bridge. 0' was a meaty medium level. I've heard it paddled down to -6'. +6' would probably be Gaulyesk with very nasty holes.
Scotts Gulf Road is as tough as any rapid you will find on Bee Creek. 4wd with good clearance is recommended, however you can get down it with a 2wd as long as you have good clearance and know how to drive on seriously unmaintained roads. Nevertheless, 2wds WILL have problems in two or three very rutted/muddy spots that will become impassible from time to time. If you don’t have any problems, the drive down Scotts Gulf Road will take about 20 minutes one way. The entire shuttle for Bee Creek is 1 hour 15 minutes ONE WAY! Good luck!!
First drop in the Class 5 section of Bee Creek.
The next drop. Remember, there is a tight section of this creek. 5 back to back Class 4+ rapids make up this 1/2 a mile. Making it a Class 5
This was a fun slide. Me and Hobbie ran it as Andy and another co-part scouted for danger. Far river left is a rock cropping. Running river right dropped you into the giant eddie.
This is a shot of Mike Fund below the 1st drop photo's. The shoot was to the left of what looks like a dead end. Imagine seeing this as you boat scout!