Piney River (Nelson County)
1.) The "Big Piney" (Alhambra to VA. 827 ['Perkins Mill Rd'] Woodson)
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!