Yellow Creek (Daddy's Crk. trib/Cumberland Co.)

Catoosa Road to Daddy's Creek

Reach banner
DifficultyIII-IV+
Length3.6 mi
Avg Gradient100 fpm
GaugeDaddys Creek Near Hebbertsburg, Tn
Flow Rate as of 1 hour
57 cfsbelow recommended
Reach Info Last UpdatedDecember 12, 2025

River Description

This run is smaller than Island, pretty similar in size to Little Clear Creek. It is not as quality as either, but is still a pristine and tiny plateau creek worth checking out.

The run starts with some easy 2-3 bedrock and then goes off a nice 6-foot sliding drop. After this is a set of crappy drops with wood and undercuts, With Teeth. Be on guard, especially at levels above 1 foot. After a tight bend to the right in this set, quickly get out and scout the next one for wood. This is the big rapid on the run, Pretty Hate Machine. It is a class-4 rapid with a nasty sieve on the right and a tight undercut passage on the left. You'll want to understeer this one on the left, lest you end to end in the slot. 2/3 of the time it is choked full of wood and getting out above it can be risky for the less than competent, or for anyone in there at high water. For the most part this drop sucks.

After this, the quality steps back up with plenty of read and run class 3 microcreeking. A hundred yards or more below the big one is Downward Spiral, a cool drop that needs to be entered on a channel on the left by ducking through some brush. Once into the groove, a nice shoulder boof high on the right will prevent an unpleasant pocket beat-down on the left. Set safety here if at all in doubt.

Next is Broken, a fun drop where you boof right off a center rock into an eddy, then ferry in behind the boof with all the flow, which slams into an undercut on the river left wall. You are heading towards the undercut, but if you drive right too soon or angle too hard right, you will hit a fan rock that will most likely deflect you hard into the undercut. Patience, grasshopper!

The problem with this run you will see, is it's not long enough. After downward spiral there is a little more boogie, with a neat slot

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River Features

Yellow Creek Bridge

Distance: 0 mi

Parking upstream river right 30 feet 80 feet from bridge

With Teeth

Class: IVDistance: 0.2 mi
Hazard
With Teeth

Pay attention here, that's all.   There is wood and undercut banks.

Pretty Hate Machine

Class: IVDistance: 0.3 mi
Portage
Hazard
Pretty Hate Machine

Its easy to blow right into this one, and its the hardest rapid on the run.  Enter center then right, catching an eddy behind a boulder in the middle.  From this micro-eddy you can see the line clearly.  Left of center all the way down, knifing through an undercut notch.  There is a drain sieve on the right in the hanging eddy halfway down.  Don't mess with it.  You may or may not be able to see a whirlpool sucking water down, but there is room for more in there.

Downward Spiral

Class: IVDistance: 0.4 mi
Hazard
Downward Spiral

Tight and fun. You will miss the entrance channel on river left your first time, but can launch in off a rock for the final drop, or ferry back upstream and enter the channel at the top.

Broken

Class: III+Distance: 0.5 mi
Hazard
Broken

Boat scoutable, just boof off right into the hanging eddy to see what the deal is

Take Out

Distance: 1.3 mi
Take Out

Confluence with Daddy's Creek

Distance: 1.3 mi
Rapid

Water colume increase, Water quality decrease


AZ
Alex Zendel

Dec 29, 2013


Dangerous. blind wood in the drop immediately below the limbo log. More info: http://boatertalk.com/forum/BoaterTalk/1052470831