Piney River (Nelson County)
1.) The "Big Piney" (Alhambra to VA. 827 ['Perkins Mill Rd'] Woodson)
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 3.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 130 fpm |
| Gauge | Piney River at Piney River, Va |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 81 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 29, 2025 |
River Description
'The Big Piney:' This gem of a whitewater stream is the uppermost section of the Piney River, below the confluence of its North and South forks. Big Piney could very well be one of Virginia's nicest whitewater rivers. Cold, clear mountain water tumbles down a narrow, steep, valley shaded by tall pines and hemlocks. The whitewater is conistent technical class III+ to IV- boulder garden. The heavily wooded scenery is interrupted only by a few scattered homes along the river, even though the run is almost entirely roadside. The consistent mid-grade whitewater, cool vibe, and roadside access make the Big Piney a great introduction to light 'creeking' / technical river running for intermediate paddlers with precautions taken for possible wood in the riverbed and the low-water bridges described below.
'There ain't no cold like the Big Piney river. Hottest day of summer it'll still make you shiver.' - lyrics from 'Cannonball,' on Nelson County singer/songwriter, Byron Massie's album 'I still Think Of You.'
Warnings: There are several low-water bridges in this stretch that form lethal hydraulics or hazards at high water! Take care around the low-water bridges at all levels. At least one has dangerous culvert pipes under the bridge that have trapped at least one boater, resulting in a close call and a lost boat. Scout these bridges on your shuttle ride upriver. With appropriate precautions these bridges don't really interrupt the flow of a paddling trip down this wonderful stream.
This river section has a history of landowner/visitor conflicts going back to the 1980's. Shots have been fired. Currently everyone is getting along fine, so let's keep it that way. Please be respectful, quiet, and discrete as possible when in this area. Drive slowly and stay off of people's land. Please don't change clothes in public. Let's not give anyone reason to be hostile toward boaters. Put-in within the National Forest
...River Features
Put In - US Forest Service sign above Alhambra, VA
Put-in - Drive around 4 miles upstream from the take-out. You can park at the National Forest sign. We somtimes like to go slightly higher up and put in at the base of Shotgun rapid, which is the final big rapid on the class 5 South Fork section. Putting in just below shotgun rapid makes a 4.57 mile run.
Corner Rapid
Corner Rapid is the most distinct rapid on the run. This picturesque drop is recognizable by the little creek coming in from river left adjacent to the rapid. It comes after passing under the Alhambra bridge, and a few houses on the riverbank. Grab the little eddy on the left just past the waterfall flowing into the river, then run the meat of the rapid down river left.
first low water bridge
The first of the two low water bridges. get out on the right and take a look. Can usually run on the right if the level is reasonable. Avoid the nasty culvert in the middle.
Bridge Rapid
'Bridge' rapid is the 'last bigger rapid,' according to Ethan Harris. In the photo of Ethan, the level is around zero on the take-out bridge gauge. Grab a couple of eddys as you make your way to a river left eddy just above the final chute on the left. Watch out for the hole along the right wall in the runout.
Take Out - VA. 827 ('Perkins Mill Rd')
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportHere is a vid from a recent run at 2' on the bridge gauge
Here are a bunch of videos at different levels from over the years.
https://youtu.be/19NBeAi5eQY?si=1flGHU0dqSrN2qtA
https://youtu.be/Ht8WL8drS6A?si=0eoEIQ1lBWZu1Ofw
https://youtu.be/1Y0D4bDhq6k?si=0n0XqXewCYbkSGnL
For a minimum boatable flow, look for 450, which roughly correlates to a reading of zero on the takeout bridge gauge. It has been running a lot lately and here are a few gauge observations. 650 was 6' and 800 was 8' on the bridge gauge. Flows of 1000 and 1350 have both recently provided a level of 1'4'. Things are still nice and fluid at 8'. Below 6' and it starts to get a bit thin. More water really cleans things up nicely. A bridge reading of 1-1.5 ft is a wonderful level.
Recent high water has cleaned things up nicely on the Piney. Many of the large trees that have been present for a while are no longer an issue. As of 9/24/18, there is a tree across from the Natl Forest sign. If you put in above the Natl Forest sign, you may have to portage. You can scoot over it at higher water or put in below it. There is one other low hanging tree towards the end that you can duck under or scoot around on the left. As always, keep an eye out for wood as things will change often. Good thing is that you can road scout most of the road as your driving shuttle.
We usually put in on the South Fork, just downstream of the impressive shotgun rapid. The run is continuous class 3-4 boogie water with four drops (class 4) that stand out as harder than the rest of the run. I call them Corner, Island, Golden Triangle, and Bridge. The Piney is one ridge over from the very popular Tye River. The Piney is a solid step up from the classic class 3-3+ Upper Tye run.
This is a fun run that is great around 400 - 450 for a good intro into creeking. Very continious and lots of fun. As of today there are 3 points that you have to get out. Very fun section though.
This is the last bigger rapid (Bridge). Level was 0 on the bridge. Minimum flow.
This is the 1st bigger rapid (Corner). You can recognize it by the beautiful waterfall coming in just above the drop on river left. Level was 0 on the bridge...minimum flow.
The landowners around the Piney can be picky at times so please be respectful as with all of the other Nelson County runs. Don't be the one that ruins it for the rest of us!