Daddy's Creek

A group of 6 kayakers ran this on 1-2-21 @3.05 ft. We put in at the bridge on Chestnut Hill Rd. The best put in is actually on the SE quadrant of the bridge. Subsequently , the take-out at Peavine Rd. offers a trail up to parking on river left just before the bridge which would be the NW quadrant of bridge. The distance between the bridges (according to Google Maps) is 8.35 miles. The run took us about 4.5 to 5 hours, and we barely made it to the take-out and dark. At this level there was quite a bit of flat water paddling. The rapids in the 'mini gorge' were all Class I- at best at this level. We only encountered maybe 4 Class II rapids on this entire run. ***There is a wood hazard in Murphy's Mayhem on the left side of the river. The downed tree is running parallel with the river blocking the left side and making a slot between the undercut sieved-out rock on river right. The river current does indeed feed into the rock and must paddle hard to stay to the left as it want to pull your boat to the right. We nearly had a novice paddler get stuck under the undercut on the right. She was able to swim out before her boat was sucked under. There is an eddy at this level right above the rapid on river right which is a good place to set up safety. Not sure if this eddy gets washed out at higher flows. This eddy should not be attempted by a beginner. I would say with the wood hazard this rapid becomes a Class III with Class V consequences.***

***The AW page/map for this run is incorrect. I'm not sure where Sutton Dam is...but all of the class II rapids listed are between Chestnut Hill Rd and Peavine Rd***

I ran this with the wife on 5/16 in our Dagger Axis kayaks. We put in at Chestnut Hill Rd (northwest corner) and took out at Peavine Rd (northwest corner); about 8.25 miles. Both of these corners were not posted and fairly accessible (we used a rope to hoist kayaks up/down the ledges).

We ran it at 2.7ft (Hebbertsburg gauge) and I would estimate it takes 2-3 hours at this level if you paddle straight through. I would not run it any lower, lots of scraping/rock dodging on the shallow class I sections (class II sections were OK). We did not encounter any major obstructions/strainer.

We are novice kayakers and were able to manage all of these rapids without too much trouble.

Watch out for Murphy's Mayhem, it cuts hard left after the drop with the current flowing straight into a large undercut rock which can easily flip you if you don't paddle hard enough out of the flow, as we learned!

Great scenery and beginner run with no real consequences!

4-29-14 Chestnut hill bridge-Peavine bridge at 5 feet water level. Said above recommend but we saw no real problems at this water level. Large wave trains and lots of logs and trees that could cause a real problem. It took us just under two hours at this water level on a 13 foot Mini Me and the Mini Max with one kayak as our safety. River crew was George, Steve, Tim, Russell, Debbie Sue, Crisler and Taft. Great and interesting to paddle at this level.

Fun large wave train at 5 feet

Sam Frances is a local who lives at the Peavine Bridge that has possible put in and take out info. (931)484-1639

At 2.7 ft on AW gauge or 1.1 ft at Peavine bridge gauge.

Nice easy Class II that is straight down the chute with a small wave at the bottom.

Undercut rock on left wall.

The best rapid on this section with some small maneuvers and a little spill over.

This is at 2.7 ft AW or 1.1 ft at Peavine bridge gauge. Lower runnable good on a hard boat.

3/20/14 Feet stage gauge was running at 2.6 on Daddys Creek near Hebbertsburg, TN or 11 inches on the gauge at Peavine bridge. Still good on a hard boat, any lower than this is not recommended with a rubber boat larger than a Mini Me.

A nice class II with a small maneuver at the end with a rocks in the middle of river to a spillover wave. 1.1 ft at Peavine bridge

Ran it today with Crisler. Put in at the Fairfield Glads Bluff and took out at Peavine bridge. Water was at 1.49 Feet, not even close to runnable. Took us 5 hours and walked 1/3 of the river. We where able to take out strainer at Murphy's Mayhem. The hike down the Bluff was not to bad and when water is flowing this will cut out a large section of flat water. Definite under cut rock at Murphy's Mayhem and Daddy's Right. The level of rapids pick up after the island and really begin to start after Murphy's Mayhem.

As you can see, way below the recommended flow, not even close to runnable.

Upper Daddy's: Class 2+ (this run is a portion of the section listed on AW as Daddy's Creek - 2. Sutton Dam to Antioch Bridge)
- Run is from Chestnut Hill Road (near Crab Orchard) to 'Antioch' Bridge (aka Peavine Road Bridge, TN-101 bridge)
- From Coal Creek Farm put in: take 68 north west, go right on Cox valley, Right on TN-70, left on first road after going under I-40, right on Chestnut Hill Road.
- Parking at both the put in and take out is ample.
- Flow minimum is 3 ft on Daddy's near Hebbertsburg TN gauge. (2.8 was the level on our first trip.
- Flow max is about 5.5 on Daddy's Creek near Hebbertsburg TN gauge.
- Flow should be above 4 ft or 650 cfs for use of the Avon Ranger.
- River Description: This run starts slow for the first two miles and than builds with a mini gorge containing 3 class 2+ rapids. After 3 more miles of flat water there is a nice set of about 10 class 2+ rapids. Total distance is over 6 miles.

July 13 2013 river was running at 2.8ft. We did this with 15 of people all ages. Great beginner to intermediate float, slow and scenic in the first 3/4 than picking up to nice class II towards the last section. Bad strainer near the end with major consequences. Put in at Peavine rd bridge and took out at Chestnut hill bridge.

Scary, nasty and awful... Stay away next time...

A little before the class II starts

Great family run, a little something for everyone.

Big group at put in

Strainer won, Shedder lost.

Having a lunch break on the river.

Danger!!!

Stay away from that strainer!

Happy paddlers

2002 Hunting Schedule: Note that the short take-out is typically closed during these hunts and that boater vehicles are often ticketed wiht hefty fines.

Feb 1 thru March 29 --- Wildlife Rest period.

Turkey Hunts-April 5-7, 12-14, 16-18, 23-25, 26-28, April 30 - May 2

April 20-21 Youth Hunt