White Creek (Morgan County)
Twin Bridges to Barnett Bridge
July 23, 2023
| Reporter | Allen Brown |
| Gauge Reading | 500 cfs at CLEAR CREEK AT LILLY BRIDGE NEAR LANCING, TN |
| Flow | Medium Runnable |
I soloed this in an open boat on Saturday, 07/22/23 from Twin Bridges to Barnett Bridge. I've been paddling for 35 yrs & always wanted to do this one, but passed it up for better rapids/runs. At 50, I thought 7.5 miles of class I-II was a good fit. I was pushing it. I never flipped but it was more than I expected. I biked the 8 mile shuttle. The scenery is exceptionally beautiful. It is truly paddling in a wilderness.
Old guide books and online information have this as class I-II. I expected class I with a handful of class IIs thrown in for fun. That is not the case. I would rate 15+ of the rapids class II, with many back to back to back. Throw in the willow jungles and partial log jams/strainers and this is an intermediate run.
The AWA website has the low cfs as 650cfs. I put on mid afternoon at 610 cfs (below recomended) and took out at 500 cfs. It was a perfect amount of water. Other trips reports mention 350 cfs being low and rocky, but doable. I agree. I could have run it even lower in a 16 ft open boat.
I never had to get out of my boat to scout or protage. There were no complete log jams or strainers. A mile below Twin Bridge, there is a tree across the creek blocking 95% of the creek from river left. There is a tiny sneak on far river right that is barely the width of a canoe that I got down. I boat scouted all the rapids, large rocks,
and blind turns for trees/strainers and always had a clear path in the end. That was my day. Your day could easily be different.
Most class II are below Hwy 62 bridge. There is one I would rate class II+. It is a zigzag through boulders, drops, and cross currents, like the rest, but ends in a very rocky ledge with no clear path though the ledge.
When I collected my bike at Twin Bridges at dusk after the run, I had an unpleasant encounter with locals swimming that I talked my way through. They were partying on a Saturday night and had a lot of questions. It felt like it could have gone either way depending on thier mood. I'm glad it went well.