Second Creek
1. Hollywood to US 219 bridge
| Difficulty | I-III |
| Length | 6.2 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 45 fpm |
| Reach Info Last Updated | January 15, 2019 |
River Description
Fritz Crytzer shared:
15 Apr 03: The stream at the put-in is deceptive. Here it looks like it will be a scrapy, Class-I flow. However, shortly into the run it gets exciting, with Class II-III ledges and drops for several miles. Watch for downed tress, though. The last half levels out into Class I-II again.
Trip Report
Second Creek (aka The Trip from Hell)
by Susan Klimas
Second Creek (Greenbrier tributary)
February 15, 1998
Boaters (K-1): Turner Sharp, Mike McClanahan, Susan Klimas, Kim Clancy, Hunt Charach, Derek Dagostino
Among those of us who more or less survived this trip intact, it rapidly became known as ÂThe Trip from Hell. I want it known up front that the whole thing was TurnerÂs idea. Turner had been wanting to do Second Creek for a while, so with the snow melting from the heavy snowfall in the Southern West Virginia mountains, he figured that it should be up enough to run. The weather was cooperating, with sunshine and high 40 temperatures in the Greenbrier River area.
Kim Clancy was travelling back to West Virginia from Raleigh, North Carolina, and was to meet us at Tamarack at 10:30. The last three trips she was scheduled to go on, she had missed for various reasons, and I had heard from reliable resources that she is navigationally impaired, so I had given her my cell phone number just in case. Soon after we arrived at Tamarack, my phone rang, and yes, it was Kim, an hour behind schedule. She had gotten lost trying to find I-77 (something about getting directions from a drunk in a bar) and ended up heading for the beach before getting turned around the right way. Luckily, Hunt was able to steer her to a shortcut and we agreed to meet at the take-out, which is located on Rt. 219 south of Ronceverte. Kim showed up soon after we did, and we ran the shuttle. Luckily, as it turned out, we set up a car at the end of the run and a second car a mile and a half from the end Âjust in case we want to
...River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a report2.0 on the staff gauge upstream of the 219 bridge is probably minimum- lower can be done with a little scraping. Expect braiding/logjams just after the put-in. Afterward the creek goes through a property that has channelized the stream for fishing, and there are a half dozen man-made 3-foot drops here that could get sticky at certain levels. Then look for a cascade coming in on the right and the (natural) ledges begin. They are all fairly small, and at higher levels may not be noticeable as ledges. The first bridge you come to is a short steep takeout with tight parking, but is probably preferable to continuing to 219.
Kind of rapids you can expect on 2nd
Very few long pools on this stretch, mostly class 2, with a couple of 3's thrown in
Lots on cliff bands on this stretch
2nd creek revisited. This little creek was described as being a magnet for strainers in a previous post. I ran it on Thanksgiving, 2013, an only had to portage around 1 strainer. It has a lot going for it, pretty scenery, isolated feeling, and virtually no flat water. Seems to take a lot of water for it to go, but would definitely recommend it. Intermediates will enjoy the maneuvering in the many class 2 rapids, and there are a couple of 3's thrown in to spice things up
4 foot boof on 2nd creek
4 foot drop about halfway down