Cranberry

Ran this on January 27, 2024 at low water. The gauge was 4.65’ when we put on and 4.53’ when we took off. Even though that’s below the recommended minimum, there was still enough flow to get down. The first two thirds I thought had plenty of water, but the last several miles where things widened out got annoying with all the shallow rock dodging, especially at the end of a long day when the light was failing. Wouldn’t want to do it any lower.

Based on the main AW description, I was expecting flatwater for the first couple of miles, but the section above the North Fork turned out to be a delightful stretch of intimate, technical class 2 with no real doldrums. In fact, the entire run had constant gradient and was busy in a good way. Lots of eddies but no real pools. At this level, the biggest rapid was steep and manky – class 3+ pushing class 4- IMO because of the tightness and shallowness. With more water, it would be easier. There were several other drops that felt to me like class 3, too. Again, with more water those would probably get easier. Nothing on this section was crazy difficult, but you’ll be mentally ‘on’ the entire time because of how tight and continuous things are.

Maybe a mile or two above the takeout where the main flow squeezes between a big boulder and a log jam, there’s a large tree trunk completely across the river. At 4.6' the bole was just far enough under water to be invisible until you were already committed. The first two folks in our party ended up barely ramping over it. The rest portaged. At higher water, it should be far enough under to be mostly out of play, but a swimmer would still be at risk.

River Description

AW rates this section class I-III but I feel that is somewhat misleading. While much of the run is easy class I-II there is plenty of II+, some nice class IIIs, and at least one easy class IV at the level we saw it. I agree with a previous trip report that one drop is just as hard as anything on the middle cranberry. Additionally, consider that this is a long wilderness run, with a continuous nature, and the water will likely be very cold when you run it.

Generally, the river has a consistent gradient, continuous easy whitewater punctuated by larger rapids without pools

Most of the rapids near the top are shallow wave trains, but some boulder gardens appear without warning.  The most serious rapids are found in “the roughs” below the confluence with the dogway fork.  You will know you made it to the dogway fork when you encounter a low water bridge crossing the river.

One of the first bigger rapids is formed where a house-sized boulder on the left forms a chute on the right over some broken ledges.  Another is a long but open class III boulder garden, the road is right next to the river for this one. The hardest rapid (class IV) is located between little rough run, and rough run. You likely will not notice these runs from the river but they are marked on topo maps. Just before the big rapid the river pushes against a small cliff face on the left and curves to the right.. The curve hides the rapid from you and it comes up fast. The road is high above the river here and portaging requires some rock scrambling. The rapid consists of 2 large ledges separated by about 100 feet of easy boulder garden, each ledge has a few chutes through it.

After the big one there are still 4 miles of paddling. There are a few more larger rapids after the big one, and then the river cools off all at once, taking on a more open gravel bar feel. There are still a few more class II+/ easy III rapids to look out for, but generally, the harder part is behind you.

Our experience (See Sean O'Malleys report of the same trip for another perspective)

We ran the upper Cranberry Jan 27 2024. The level was 4.7 when we put on and 4.5 when we took off. We elected to walk in a full 2 miles from the locked gate at the put-in before getting on the river, the road was covered in snow and it made dragging the boats easy, we could also see logs down across the river at the earliest put-in options. This put us just a few minutes paddle upstream from where the gravel road crosses the river on a bridge.

The upper section was mostly free of serious wood when we paddled it, though there were strainers that needed to be managed in areas where the river braided.

Mostly the rapids did not surprise us and we boat-scouted almost everything.  A few drops did surprise us, even with good spacing the least experienced paddler in the group did not always have time to react to the signals being given by the lead boat and ended up running a few drops that they might have walked had they been able to find an eddy.  We all commented how the general feel of the river (excluding the larger rapids) was like the Nantahala: narrow, fast, and cold, with consistent gradient, and no pools. If you are a competent class III paddler you will be fine on this river, if you paddle class III only occasionally, or have just reached that level maybe try a less committing river.

We had 2 safety concerns. At one point on the lower section below the roughs, a large log pushed against a river right boulder spanned the entire river. At first, it looked like there was a log on each side with a gap in the middle but once committed to the rapid the lead boat realized the log was covering the whole river. The first boat managed to boof onto it and then slide off the back, the second boat boofed it as well, and the other paddlers had time to eddy out and walk. The other challenge was running out of daylight. We started walking at 11:30, started paddling at 12:30, and reached the takeout at 6. A few more minutes and it would have been too dark to paddle. Give yourself plenty of time.

Got a rare summer run on the upper Cranberry, from the Cranberry glades lower parking lot, to the start of the middle section. It ended up being over 15 miles, which made for a long day. In my infinite wisdom, I suggested we hike in on an intersecting trail ( the cowpasture trail ) and put on in the WV version of a mangrove thicket. After hacking through alders for around 3/4 of a mile, we decided to hike back to forest road 102, and couldn't locate it. It is very easy to get turned around in the glades backcountry, and we ended up thrashing around in the woods for over an hour, finally putting on a small stream full of alders, wondering if we were on the right river. The thickets finally began to diminish, and the river ( the south fork of the Cranberry ) started flowing through beautiful spruce forest, resplendent with blooming rhododendron After several miles of this, the current picked up, small class 2 rapids emerged, and continued dropping steadily for many miles. Down near the confluence of the north and south fork, there was a solid class 3, followed by several more busy 2-3 miles. Then a section that I believe is called the Roughs suddenly appeared. It is marked by a strong, very busy class 3 ( maybe low 4) followed by a steep blind drop, followed by another 7-8 foot steep slide. Easily comparable to the tougher rapids on the middle Cranberry, including S turn. There was still another 5 miles after this, and Carson and I found our concentration waning, having put on around 1:30, and finishing up around 7: 30 ( including the close to 2 hours of aimless hiking and boating through alders ) I'd highly recommend the run, for scenic beauty, and a lot of variation throughout the duration of the run. Be sure to hike down forest road 102 until the river appears boatable, unless you have extreme masochistic tendencies.

several miles after passing the confluncence of the north and south forks, there is a class 3-4 section that suddenly appears. This may be a surprise for a boater expecting class 2 all the way. This brief sections compares with the tougher middle section of the Cranberry

Carson Wright fires up one of the bigger drops on the upper cranberry section. This run is listed as primarily class 2, with a few rapids approaching class 3, but less experienced boaters should be aware that there is a short stretch of class 3-4 water, with several steep, blind drops in succession

Put in off of the cowpasture trail, and encountered incredibly dense alder thickets. Follow guidebook, and hike down 102 until the creek is boatable

You'll encounter several miles of this, if you put on to far upstream

several miles in from the put in, river opens up, and starts moving downhill

Carson Wright beginning to enjoy the beautiful scenery, after thrashing though the alders

The put-in for the Upper Cranberry is in the sureal landscape of the Cranberry Glades, an alpine marsh dotted with spruce. It's always a lot colder up here than you think it will be.
This is the put-in on the South Fork of the Cranberry. It's about a half mile walk on a gravel road to the river once you've parked in the lot at the locked gate on FS 102. The top two or so miles is moving flatwater through alpine marshland. Then it opens up a bit and picks up speed.
There is current through the entire beginning of the run, but it picks up speed after leaving the marsh. There are mountain views and lush alpine vegetation around every corner. It was the first of May when Jason an I paddled this section, but it was still winter up in the Glades. It reminded me of mid March in Fayetteville.
This is the biggest rapid in the section. It's a solid Class III.
At the end of section A and beginning of section B. It flattens up a bit as you can see there are more leaves on the trees here than at the put in on the same day. The climate definitely changed through the course of the sixteen mile trip. One final note. This section did not exceed class three throughout the trip, but with enough water to make this seciton runnable the next section (section B) will be pushing class V. It's a big step up from where you just came, but if you're ready for the action it's a great way to end out the day.

The gradient picks up consistently through the run, but it never gets above Class III in character. You just have to keep an eye out for wood downstream.