Little Sequatchie

On Memorial Day, 05/26/25, I attempted this run but failed because the dirt 4x4 section of Coppinger Cove Rd is posted with tons of No Trespassing signs. The water level, 780 cfs, was perfect. I could have run from where the paved part of Coppinger Cove Rd ends at Sequatchie Cove Creamery down to Valley View Hwy, but didn't want to paddle 2.14 miles of moving flatwater. Valley View Hwy to the confluence with the Sequatchie is another 5 miles of moving flatwater.

I've studied this run on maps and in satellite photos for years. Old guidebooks only discuss the section from where the 4x4 section of Coppinger Cove Rd crosses the river to the confluence. That is only 2.21 miles above the creamery. Those 2.21 miles do have a handful of class II rapids. LSR starts at the confluence of Sewanee Creek and Clifty Creek, which is 12 miles above the creamery. The gradient in that 12-mile section is a respectable 33/ft per mile, 1200 ft down to 800 ft. I do not know of anyone paddling that entire 12-mile section. Boaters running the famous Pocket Creek and paddling out on LSR likely got the first decent of the 2.8 miles above the 4x4 road crossing and didn't even know it. The two main reasons the top 9.2 miles remain a mystery are 1) no roads so hike in access only and 2) in a few long sections, the river loses 2/3 of its water to underground caves. One day I will run it all. I think you can hike in .3 miles from Jaceland Cemetery on Ross Creek Rd to the last mile of Clifty Creek whose gradient is a beefy 127 ft/mile. The other option is to park at Burkett Chapel Cemetery on Ross Creek Rd/Burkett Chapel Cemetery Rd and hike 1.1 miles down a dirt 4x4 road to Bryant's Cove Church on the banks of LSR 2 miles below the Sewanee Creek/Clifty Creek confluence. Look at Google Earth satellite pictures from February 2019. You can really see the difference in volume from the top half of LSR and the bottom. I can't find the exact spot 2/3rds of LSR bubbles back up from underground, but it is there somewhere. The shuttle would be Valley View Hwy to Whitwell, TN, then Hwy 108 to Gruetli-Laager, TN, then 60th street to Ross Creek Rd, a 30-mile shuttle. Also, the gauge is not accurate. The gauge is at the bottom of the Big Sequatchie River which drains the 116-mile Sequatchie Valley. The BSR can have water days after the LSR has dried up. A better gauge might be when Upper Caney is running LSR is also running or when North Chick is running LSR is definitely running.