Chestnut Creek

We ran Chestnut Creek yesterday, led by Galax veteran paddler Tom Peddy. We put in by the church on highway 793 to run the bottom two and a half miles of the creek and two miles of lake paddling on the New. There are few pure class 3 paddles out there. This run is one. Chestnut Falls is not on this section. Our level was 2.4 on the USGS gauge and 1.4 on the bridge gauge making for a solid class 3 run. I believe at the minimum of 2.0 and 0, this run would be a low class 3. There are several creek wide ledges that at higher levels would be class 4 due to the hydraulics they would generate. The New River Trail is beisde the creek making for easy portages and scouts. The tunnel is currently closed for repairs. Due to the large quantity of pasture land in its watershed, Chestnut Creek goes up and down fairly quickly. That is unfortunate, for this creek is a fun and senic run. The lake paddle is also a deterrent. Yesterday, the New was running high and the 'lake' had a healthy flow most of the way.