Obed
4. Obed Junction to Nemo
| Difficulty | II-IV |
| Length | 9.8 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 30 fpm |
| Gauge | Emory River at Oakdale, Tn |
| Flow Rate as of 51 minutes | 449 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 19, 2022 |
Read carefully-- what follows is a varied mix of three options to run approximately 10 miles of the Obed River canyon. Option 'A' is the one that correlates with the actual AWA description of this section: Obed Junction to Nemo. The other two options are probably listed here because most east Tennessee paddlers do not fancy the half mile hike from parking area to the Obed River and more often choose option 'B' or 'C' as a rule. It bears repeating that you cannot drive to Obed Junction; you can only hike/portage. The half mile trail is an old jeep road that is relatively well-maintained, is wide enough for a party of 4 to carry an inflated 6-person raft using its chicken lines and the hike includes a bridge over a small creek.
In March 2022 the park service improved the parking area for the Obed Junction Trail off of Potters Chapel Road. The trail is still a half mile in length; they did not shorten it.
CHOICES:
You have options for put-ins depending on how long a trip and what type of run you're looking for:
A) Hike half mile down to Obed Junction listed put-in for this run and you will get 10 miles of the incredible Obed River Canyon down to Nemo Bridge takeout.
B) Run Daddy's Creek from Devils Breakfast Table access area (NOTE: the road to reach DBT is sometimes closed with a locked gate depending on the posture of the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area). This makes for a 12 mile run as you get 2 miles or so on Daddy's Creek. Your takeout is still at Nemo Bridge.
C) Run Clear Creek to its confluence with the Obed and then down to Nemo takeout. You entirely skip the rapids listed below because via Clear Creek you enter the main Obed below each of them. A good argument could be made to remove option 'C' entirely from this description to keep it simple
...
At the listed put-in drainage area is ~332 square miles (as calculated by USGS StreamStats 4.2.0 software).
After 4.6 miles (after confluence with Clear Creek), the combined drainage becomes ~514 square miles.
After another 4.3 miles at the confluence with the Emory, drainage becomes ~613 square miles for the final mile to the listed take-out.
Randomly strewn throughout the first three miles you will find numerous brief class II-III rock-garden rapids.
Enter from the left and execute two 90 degree turns the last being on the lip of the main drop.
This rapid lies in a gentle left-hand bend. It's rocky at the top, pitches over a ledge at the bottom, then heads directly for Oh My God Rock which juts upstream from the river-right shore.
(Unknown if the rock is undercut or not. There is a good sized pillow on the rock where the current slams into it, and a turbulent eddy on the upstream side, against the river-right bank, implying that water is not going under it. Still, if I was swimming, I'd swim like he!! away from it.)
Scout this rapid on river right. At lower flows the water tends to push you towards the right where some of the rocks are undercut. Over 3,000 cfs the rocks are better covered.
Just above the confluence with Clear Creek, this is a short drop through a narrow spot between two boulders. (Class II+ at low-to-moderate flows, Class III at higher flows.)
From here it is just about a mile (of largely flat flowing water) to the take-out.
Mar 5, 2017
I ran from Obed Junction (OBJ) to Nemo on 2017-03-04
The river gauge listed for this run, Emory River at Oakdale, is 9 miles _downstream_ from the takeout at Nemo.
The proper gauge for this run is Obed at Lancing, https://waterdata.usgs.gov/tn/nwis/uv/?site\_no=03539800&PARAmeter\_cd=00065,00060. You paddle right past this gauge on river left about 1.3 miles above the confluence with the Emory--look for a galvanized culvert-like column on the left bank and a cable crossing just downstream.
If you want to know the flow in the section above the confluence with Clear Creek, add the flow from Clear Creek at Lilly from the Obed gauge.
Sep 27, 2013
Obed River, Potter's Chapel Road to Catoosa Road Class 2-4 (listed on AW as Obed -4. Obed Junction to Nemo)
- Minimum flow is 1000 cfs for canoes and 1200 cfs for the Avon Ranger on the Emory River at Oakdale, TN
- Max flow is 8000 cfs
- Run is 10 river miles
- AW says 'From Obed Junction which is at the confluence with Daddy's Creek, the river flows through 2.8 miles of class II/!!! rock gardens before you reach a one mile section containing Ninety Right-Ninety Left (class III-), OmyGod! (class III+), Rockgarden (class IV) Be aware of the dangerous spot that exist on the right in this rapid, and Submarine Falls (class II+). Soon after these drops you will pass Clear Creek which enters in from the left 4.2 miles into the run from Obed Junction. You will encounter four more class III rapids separated by calm stretches of river, the last two of which are known as as Keep Right and Widowmaker.'
Sep 15, 2010
I have opened a hostel for paddlers and climbers at my home, a five minutes drive from Lilly Bridge (Clear Creek).
Check it out at:
http://obedriverhostel.wanderingstars.com/
Jul 20, 2009
It should be made clear that you cannot drive down to Obed Junction. This is where Daddys Creek comes into the Obed and there has been no vehicular access from at least 1971 to the present time. When we paddled Daddys in spring 2009, we hiked up the trail to the road. Do not leave a car there since there have been multiple break-ins. We left ours at a nearby house and gave them some money.
Apr 1, 2005
Beautiful and rainy Spring day on the Plateau. Larry and I were the only souls on the river.
Fairly long rapid, with a zig-zag s-turn starting on the right and working left to avoid the numerous holes and the nasty pin rock river ctr (which most of the current pushes towards) Have been close calls here. Easy walk on river right, but the rapid is not too difficult and a lot of fun.
Apr 20, 2002
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
The Bluegrass Wildwater
Association holds it's annual
beginner clinic on the short stretch of
class II whitewater that runs from the
large flatwater pool at the
Emory/Obed confluence to Nemo
rapid in this beautiful National Wild
and Scenic river system. These
photos from the 2002 BWA clinic are
'video frame captures' from footage
shot during the clinic.
