Tuckasegee, West Fork

Was able to finally make it out for one of the 250cfs releases. In my opinion it’s class III read & run with 3-4 class IV rapids depending if you run the boulder gardens to start. Crux & Mini Gorge are good fun.

Please edit the main river description to reflect the fact that very few people now run the left side (Crash Landing) of the big drop for the reasons noted in the description. Flight Simulator is typically run about a boat length off the right bank with a slight left angle for best results.

Breakbone Falls (aka, Flight Simulator)

4/7/2018

Second rapid of West Fork tuck below High Falls

Unidentified boater on Flight Simulator

another test

Top half and bottom half of first rapid in mini-gorge of West Fork Tuck

A beautiful spring day in May, 2015. Photo by Mike Mays.

Left Line in Overflow X

River-right line (Wade Harrison) & river-left line at 250cfs by Ben Peters on 8 June 2013. Center and river-right at base flow on 12 April 2014 by Burt Kornegay

There is quite the deep pool at the base of this little drop - keep those bows up!

Note the small landing zone pocket on the river right line. Missing this zone has caused some pitons. Also note the pothole to the left of the person.

Looking up at the big slide you can see a pocket in the center, and the steep drop onto a flat surface right at the person's head where people have been injured. Its a skate park - find the smooth line.

Jason Harris firing up the left line

Second boulder garden on 18 July with no flow from Lake Glenville, and on 26 July with stick across from Thorpe Powerhouse reading 2.4 feet. Rapid was dramatically altered by high flows in early and mid July.

Bottom of first boulder garden. Photo taken from slide between boulder gardens. Compare to photo of second boulder garden taken from the same spot to get an idea of distance between boulder gardens.

Top of second boulder garden visible near the center of the photo. Photo taken from slide between boulder gardens. Compare to photo of first boulder garden taken from the same spot to get an idea of distance between boulder gardens.

River-right line (Wade Harrison) & river-left line at 250cfs by Ben Peters on 8 June 2013. Center and river-right at base flow on 12 April 2014 by Burt Kornegay

Wade stomping the autoboof on the big slide.

Paddler, David Jaben, dropping into the last rapid of the mini gorge.

Good example of a correct line

Third rapid of mini gorge, Lumpy Ledge, in the foreground. Center-right crevice just to the left of the boater, David Jaben.

Right (more difficult) line

Looking upstream at first boulder garden

Third rapid of the mini gorge, Lumpy Ledge, at 3 feet

Brian Jacobson enters the put-in rapid on the West Fork Tuck with Cullowhee Falls as the background.

Hiked down the trail to the put-in today. Starts out as a dirt road then a well constructed trail starts on the right as the dirt road continues left. The well - constructed trail continues for a short distance, ending in a clearing with a bunch of trees that have been cut. The dirt road comes back in and continues for a couple of hundred feet, then turns into an unimproved (narrow, muddy, slick) trail. This continues past the first waterfall that is huge. The trail continues, eventually dropping below a set of cliffs near the top of the second waterfall. The trail then turns into a scramble among rocks, logs, and trees down the hillside until it is nearly even with the bottom of the first of the two drops in the second falls (huge, lands on rocks). The trail (if you can call it that at this point) continues down amongst the large rocks, logs, and trees into a large patch of rhododendron until it meets the river at the bottom of the second drop of the second falls. It was a difficult hike without a boat. With a boat it would be best to use a rope to lower the boat down to someone waiting below in stages. It will take a LOT of work to turn the current scramble into a trail walkable with boats.

class IV below Cullowhee Forest bridge about .3 miles downstream of the bridge

slides on the lower 3 miles

classic slides on the lower 3 miles below Cullowhee Forest Bridge

bony boof with wood

ledges on WF Tuck

Approximate location of Duke Property (open to public use) and the route to access the Upper West Fork. Stay on Duke property at all times - often marked with red flagging tape and tree markers. Launch only below the second big waterfall as noted. Note that things are busy (eg Class IV or maybe even V right off the bat). A relatively easy route around the big waterfall exists under a cliff band well uphill of - but near - the lip of the falls. In the fall of 2012 a nice hiking trail will be built to this location, so if you have any route finding doubts - just wait for the releases in 2013.

Ran this yesterday (just happened to catch it- don't know the flow, so I might be overestimating what the river will be like at release and my comments below might be overinflated) and have to make some comments:

this is a creek, so if you don't have skills to run stuff like the North Fork French Broad, Lower Big Creek, or similar stuff, you will find this a little big for your taste. The reason I say this is based upon the number of holes (some pretty sticky), the amount of trees, and the overall difficulty of a couple of rapids. One rapid in particular, located about 1/3 to 1/2 mile below the bridge at Cullowhee Forest development is a Class IV/IV+ (maybe a V at high water) due to the two holes in the rapid, and an undercut I noticed. It has 3 or 4 moves in it, and drops into a pretty nasty hole on the bottom left. Be careful and be good at boat scouting if you've never run this, you'll be in boogie water alot in some sections.

Overall, I think it is going to be a gem of a run (the water was crystal clear)- we just need to get some strainers moved out of there.

-Newton

AW has recently completed our access proposal for the West Fork that includes protection of roughly 1,000 acres of old growth and cliffs, from the dam to the base of high falls.

We hope to reach a negotiated settlement on flows and access in the West Fork sometime late in 2002.

This is the first time this waterfall had flowed in 20 odd years.

Ryan being grabbed by the sneaky speedtrap hole halfway between High Turnover's first two ledges (27 July 2019). Level bouncing between 2.8ft and 2.9ft at the takeout.

I took this photo standing next to High Falls, from where the put in trail will descend around the falls, during an access study that required a brief release from Glenville Dam. We'll need your help building the trail. This waterfall will once again be a waterfall when releases start in the spring of 2006. For now it remains dry, as it has been for decades.
The put in trail for the West Fork will terminate at the 3-4 foot drop in the foreground, and paddlers will either put in above or below this drop based on personal preference. High Falls is visible in the background.