Little Clear Creek
Hwy 62 to Lily
| Difficulty | III-IV+ |
| Length | 2.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 85 fpm |
| Gauge | Clear Creek at Lilly Bridge Near Lancing, Tn |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 326 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 14, 2024 |
River Description
Shuttle Directions:
Shuttle is pretty simple. The takeout is at Lilly Bridge on Clear Creek. From Wartburg, drive on Hwy 62 for several miles, taking a left at the sign for Lilly Bridge. Go 3-4 miles to the bridge. Takeout here. For the putin, go back to Hwy 62 and make a left. Go 2-3 miles and you will cross Little Clear Creek. It is a signed crossing. There is a pullout on the downstream river right side after you cross the bridge. From here it is just a short bushwack to the creek. Routes vary with the season and it's underbrush content.
From Karl Whipp:
We ran Little Clear Creek this past weekend (12/16/02). What a great trip! The Emory @ Oakdale gauge was 10,000 and the Clear Creek @ Lilly Bridge gauge was 2,200. This was a great level. I took GPS readings at the put in and at the take out. The enitre run contained 164' of gradient. With this being a run of about 3 miles total and the first two miles being completely flat, it means that all of the 164' is in the 1/2 mile steep stretch (the last 1/4 mile has substantially less gradient ending on Clear Creek). The majority of this gradient lies in 4 main drops. From the top of the first big one to the bottom of the last big one is, in my opinion, about1/2 mile. This puts the steep section of the run in the 190-200fpm range over that 1/2 mile.
With a good guide, the entire run takes about 45 minutes. You can get a couple runs in in a days time.
The first two miles contains a few downed trees, all of which we limboed.
The first major drop is a triple drop of 30' or so that one guy in our group named 'Leap of Faith'. We're not sure that this triple drop really has a name, so we're calling it 'Leap of Faith'. It is signified by being the first real horizon line on the run, which is in a left hand bend in the creek. You cannot see the bottom from the top, nor can you see the top from the bottom. Enter the first ledge 3/4 left and drop over a 5 fo
...River Features
Put In
Mandatory Portage
This is no longer a mandatory portage. This is on a blind bend in the river, and you don't want to blunder into it. It is where an avalanche occurred many years ago. After many floods, it's cleaned itself up. You start with a small ledge at the bend in the river then stay center. You'll find another ledge with a tounge right down the middle. Keep an eye out for wood.
Triple Drop
Triple drop consisting of a 4 foot drop onto a low angle slide into a six foot drop into another low angle slide into a 5 foot drop in the washout. This whole rapid bends left severely and the bottom cannot be seen from the top
4 ft Ledge
The entrance starts on the right then s-turns to the left then back right for the boof. The boulder on river right has a deep cave under it. Not sure what would happen with a hole surf at high water.
Novacaine
This rapid has a riverwide boulder pile at the top that can be snaked through on the left, but don't commit untill taking a look. Eddy out on the left after going left of the boulder pile. The line is real fine, though at higher water the hazards may no longer be life-threatening. There is no good line at lower water.
Boofalicious
This is an eight foot diagonal ledge, with an undercut on the right, an overhang on the left, and a sweet autoboof down the middle.
Oh Yeah!
This is right after Boofalicious. Go throught the right slot, powering up onto the wall, with a nicely timed shoulder boof, to avoid a close encounter with the rock on bottom left. Duck the overhang in the washout. This is the best rapid on the run IMO.
Lilly Bridge/Rapid
Run down through the wavetrain and takeout below the bridge, on river left.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportMe and Brandon ran Little Clear on 3-21-20 and found that within the first mile there were a couple areas that had trees down across the creek. We went at a low flow and had no problems portaging but at a higher flow it could be more challenging. -Dave
Ran this 1/2/11 with pretty good flow. Awesome creek run. We took a raft down and wondered if anyone else has attemped it or if it was a first decent for a raft?
Signing out,
Dirty Bird Crew and Hard Knox Boaters
Brandon runs the third drop of Triple Drop.
The boulder on river right has a cave under it.
Checking the Level: Walk straight down the left side of the bridge. You will see a small footpath leading straight down to the creek. Carry a paddle down with you. From the edge of the creek where the footpath ends, you want to have a full paddle blade in depth for a minimum level. When I say this, I mean that it has to cover the ENTIRE blade and should be lapping up on the shaft itself. Again, this is a good minimum level, but an inch or two can make all the difference on this run.
According to a boatertalk post, the mandatory portage is no longer mandatory.
Did this run Sat. 11.13.04. Clear Creek @ Lily Bridge was 1,240 and dropping. The water at the put-in just barely covered the blades of our paddles: definitely a minimum level. We ran everything. The
Ran Little Clear 9/8/2004 as Clear was peaking at 1600 cfs. Little Clear was medium+. The mandatory portage above triple drop is now clear. There is a fair bit of wood in the good section unfortunately. All of it was visible from upstream. There is a pine tree across the top of Oh Yeah!. We made it worse by trying to move it. Someone could cut it out with a Sven saw on a future run, or just chop out the whole run.
As of may 30, 2004, there was a big log in the middle of the last class IV
This is looking down at the last two drops of triple drop. You can see the rapid snakes left.
This drop is just sweet.
nick is just droping over second drop. First drop is right behind him
I am a little sideways here. Oh well. This drop is pretty safe. The wall to my right is a little undercut, but not dangerous. Only thing I think might be a problem is a high water hydraulic at the base of the rapid. It is real easy to boof over though
Running this drop will put a smile on your face
Boof it down the middle. Scenic drop.
He cleaned it. Didn't even have to stroke it.
Lexington Crew
not!
Prettiest spot on the run
Triple Drop