Clear Creek

Sept 2, 2021 I skipped work and took wife & retriever back to this section enjoying the runoff from Hurricane Ida. The Lilly gauge was dropping fast from 430 early in the morning to 350cfs when we launched at Barnett Bridge in the Star Slice cataraft. We ran to Jett Bridge in 3 hours, while in no hurry. At this level we had only one spot, about 1.5 miles into the run, where we had to portage the cataraft over some rocks in the center. The remainder of the run had enough water to paddle but with more than a few shallow, scrape fests. My advice it to not take a cataraft down this section below 450cfs, on the Lilly gauge, due to the nuisance low water scrapes. I think 450cfs would be a new minimum required level for our group of 3 in the cataraft.

Ran this section for the first time on March 6, 2021. Level was about 6ft on the Lilly Bridge or approx 450cfs. I routinely paddle class 3 and 4 in my kayak and would normally be running the Lilly to Nemo section. I recently acquired a Star Slice cataraft and my goal that day was to evaluate the Barnett to Jett section, at 6ft Lilly Bridge, for suitability for a cataraft. I decided that this was enough water with the possible exception of two, perhaps three, spots where the creek is so narrow that a short 20-30 foot portage or 'drag cataraft over the rocks' may be required. A brief observation about the hazards mentioned by so many of the other comments. As a very experienced class 3-4 kayaker I saw that I could boat-scout and identify all of them rather easily with the exception of one-- the undercut rock & strainer about 1 to 1.5 miles (my guess) upstream of Jett Bridge. That particular hazard was partially or completely obscured to me and my boat-scouting and I was glad to have the guidance of 4 other paddlers with me who knew this section. They recognized the spot from well upstream-- an island/shoal in the center with water channeling both left and right of the island. To my boat-scouting eyes river left and right channel both looked reasonable. The correct line was to follow the left channel bordered by heavy evergreen & Hemlock trees with a short section of near-vertical rock wall on the left. In March 2021 taking that river left line kept me away from the more dangerous channel on the right with a messy strainer and current that flows into the undercut. I still had some work to do, to stay safe in the river left channel, but in my opinion competent class two kayakers would be OK. Overall I found this section quite scenic despite the large sections of trees, in the first 1.5 miles, blown down by the 2019/2020 tornadoes. About halfway through the run there were several short class 2 rapids with very long and deep pools downstream which would lend themselves quite well to instructional trips. I plan on future trips paddling my Slice solo with my water-loving retriever.

3/18/17 1100 cfs, Paddlers were CT, Eli, G, Sam, James and Orlando. It was a great level for this section. Boys did well in their kayaks and Orlando styled the ducky. The undercuts described above must have been covered up.

4/13/15 350 cfs, barnett to jett, paddlers were G, Eli and CT; all in canoes. G stated that this was too low and slow to do again, new personal minimum for this section is 750+ cfs for canoes or 1000 for a raft. This section is not as exciting as Jett to Lilly.

Clear Creek (Barnett Bridge past Jett Bridge to Lilly Bridge) Notes are for a river level of 250 cfs on the usgs CLEAR CREEK AT LILLY BRIDGE NEAR LANCING, TN.
- First rapid, start right moving left.
- Second rapid, 2 parts; 1- right to center, 2- middle
- Fourth rapid, run left avoid obvious undercut on left at bottom of rapid.
- Left or right of Big rock, left of trees in run out. Swim rock on left after rapid *Pic.
- Small rocks go middle over small pour over *Pic.
- Start right move middle.
- Wave train, middle to right (small hole on bottom left) *Pic.
- Small rapid.
- Long pool with down tree on river left.
- Strainer rapid, left to middle is widest line, or right to middle is an option. *Pic.
- 2 part rapid, 1-middle, left or middle (little scrappy over small hole).
- Run left under low hanging Hemlock branches at bottom, the right channel is larger, both left and right are clear.
- Tree at top of rapid, can go left or right *Pic.
- Jett Bridge (check gauge on bottom of left piling)
- Long easy wave train rapid with undercut on bottom right.
- Left of center.
- Left of center.
- Left of center.
- Big Rock, move from right to left in behind big rock to avoid little rocks.
- Middle, then left to right, big undercut on bottom left.
- Lilly rapid, go down the right, eddy out left after bridge. Need to carry back up river left to get to steps and river access.

7-11-13
Put in at Barnett bridge and took out at Lilly bridge. Water was running at 1,000 cfs. Perfect conditions for the canoes. Trip was 61/2 miles and it took us 41/2 hours. Sam and Tommy paddled the Mini Max on their own and did great. We had 2 canoes, 1 Mini Max and the Avon Ranger. Tommy fell out of Mini Max on the last rapid just before takeout while paddling with Sam, Murphy rescued him. Take out was a little tough for the large Avon.

Clear Creek, Barnett Bridge road (aka Frankfort-Deerlodge Road) to Genesis Road/TN 298 (Jett Bridge). Class 1-3 (Listed on AW as Clear Creek-2. Barnett to Jett)
- Minimum flow is 150 cfs for canoes, 400 cfs for Avon Ranger on the Clear Creek to Lilly bridge near Lancing, TN.
- Max flow is about 2,000 cfs on the Clear Creek at Lilly bridge near Lancing, TN.
- Run is 4 river miles.
- For detailed rapid list and description see Clear Creek notes.

Setting Tommy up in the middle of the river

Sam jumping of rock into Clear Creek.

Canoe rescue at undercut rock

Tommy and Sam in charge on Mini Max

I took a beginner down today at around 550cfs. We worked for about an hour just below the put-in where a rock above a very large pool made a nice place to practice ferries, peel-outs and catching eddies. We then paddled to Jett. We had a great day and had a fun time on the river with no problems. I hate that comments on this page talk up the undercuts on this run like it's the Russell Fork because it is not. There are some undercuts on this river but so are undercuts on every river. With a good guide, this river is a perfect beginner run. I understand now why the paddle clubs bring their beginners here. It's a safe run with great opportunities to learn. It's far from being the death trap that some have posted.

The strainer at the bottom of Quarry Rapid that was reported on New Year's Day 2008 is no longer a hazard. Recent high water has swung the tree against the river left bank and out of the current.

Billy Bob

This thin seemed to be pretty dangerous, especially
if the water was higher. You don't really hear about
this sort of danger on this 'beginers' run.

When it doubt; go river left!

The Barnett-to-Jett Bridge run on Clear Creek averages an 18ft/mile drop for 6.5 miles (as the kayaker paddles, not as the crow flies).

The minimum water level one can run on Clear Creek from Barnett-to-Jett without scraping plastic off your boat is ~ 5.75

There are 3 spots with nasty undercuts not discussed anywhere else. Our group had near-fatalities at 2 of these spots on 4/17/04. The first is 1/4 of the way down and very visible. The second is 2/3 of the way to Jett and not visible without scouting.At this location you will see an undercut boulder where most of the current bears right but what you cant see from the river is that after the first undercut the river takes a sharp left into another undercut boulder. Our paddler became trapped under this rock and completely underwater for at least 10 seconds. The third location is just upstream of Jett and also very visible. All these spots are easily avoidable for paddlers with basic boat control skills. However, I bring this to your attention because Monte Smith's Obed/Emory book(no longer in print) calls this 'an excellent run for beginners' and this is definitely not true due the hazards mentioned above.

6.0 on internet guage, not at Jett

If you look closely at the rock it is obvious why they call it grouper rock