Warwoman Creek

Ran about 24 hours after some big rain. Paddlers gauge on the bridge at the put in was about 1/4' below the 1. Maybe a little higher. Chattooga gauge was around 4ft and dropping. It was a fun run. Some wood in various places. At this level we didn't have to exit the boats for any of the wood. Couple sketchy spots though where we probably should have walked around. Definitely would have to at lower levels. There was some nice rapids at this flow. It was a good time. We only paddled from the put in bridge to the Warwoman Ford

Paddlers gauge on the bridge at the put in was at what I guess would be 0. It was just below the first marking. But it was a decent level. I'd say it could be ran lower but I personally would prefer a little more water. There were multiple river wide strainers. 2 required a portage. Another one we were able to go under on the far right. And another one we were able to scrape over in the middle of the river. No wood was found in the rapids. A fun trip. We did Warwoman to Sandy Ford. Main lines on the 3 miles of Chattooga were also free of wood.

We ran Warwoman between 2.5-3' on the USGS gauge and I got to say this is a fun run. We were excepting a so-so Class II run but got much more than we excepted. Mattress & Pinball and this one unnamed rapid between them where the water folds over itself were pretty big and a lot more challenging than we thought.....I'd give them a solid Class III at that level.

The only down side to this run is ALL the deadfall on the creek and the long stretches of flatwater but a great run if you are not really feeling Sec3 or 4 at 2.5-3' or just want to try something different.

I painted a paddler's gage on the put-in bridge 7/14/07. It can be easily seen from the put-in parking lot. The gage is on river left, on the downstream side of the bridge. Please report your levels and if you thought it was low, medium or high, so we can dial this gage in and get new correlations for Warwoman. E-mail me at h2olevelcheck@hotmail.com with your levels. Thanx -- Rob Maxwell

There is a new paddler's gage for Warwoman Creek at the put-in bridge. Its on the river left downstream side of the bridge. Its easily seen from the put-in.

This was definitly an elf run but everything was runnable except Mattress

We ran Warwoman three weeks ago when the Chattooga was at 2.3. The bottom of Pinball was completly blocked with a pine tree. You could not see the tree unless you bank scout it. If you do choose to run the left shoot you will find yourself with a pine tree just above the deck of your boat. There is a very small chute on far river right that can be run. There was also a lot of new wood in the river.

7/23/2005 My son & I ran Warwoman at 2.68 feet from the last bridge down to Warwoman Ford, about 2.78 miles by GPS in canoes with floatation. Wow, That was fun. Mattress is great! We enjoyed the challange and the intro to Creekin'. But, Beware! There are significant strainers and deadfalls. None required that we leave the creek and only one was not passable without a momentary exit. Pins are a constant threat at the strainers and caution is required as you approach from upstream in the bigger water.

The listings here accurately represent the difficulty though I agree with one submitter that Mattress is nearly a IV: it is really several rapids that constitute an 11 foot drop overall with ample oppurtunites to pin and swim! Rescue is hindered by the steep banks, the lack of pools, inability of others to get to you, the canoeist must have mastered very complex eddie-ins, eddie-outs and ferries to safely complete...MORE than a III+ in my book. We got wet more than once but usually as we eaked-out all of the good from each rapid! It took us four hours in the water and was rather tiring. But, we are not as accomplished as some. The hike is listed as two miles in the shuttle but it is an easy 2 miles. This creek is highly recommended and very fun at this level.

Hey, ya think upper tallulah would be a better gauge for this one?? Similar sized drainage.

We ran this 9/26/03 at 2.0. There were about 6 trees that we had to get over and most could be gotten over without leaving the boat. This was a very fun run with little flat water and beautiful scenery. There are a lot of no name rapids on this. At mattress you can scout on river right. The slide on the right seems to pull you back to the left and it pulled patio straight into a pin above the lower rock. It was a 15 minute struggle to free the boat. I would run the slide as far to the right as possible (flow will limit how far). The picture of Will R. is to the left of the slide. Also when you get to a rapid that breaks right and left and is jambed with big trees (not sure if it has a name). Patio got his boat pinned again on the left side. You could not run the right but if you run the left side it seems to want to pull you towards the tree as you get close to it so watch out. But this was a great run and I will run it again.

I ran this creek on 9/29/02 and it is in need of a chainsaw. Although the rapids are mostly clean, the number of deadfalls and strainers will strongly deter me from running this river again for many years.

'Paddleman,' whoever that is, contributed:

Use AW's site to find the map. (editor's note: click above right for the Tiger, TopoZone, or MapBlast map.) Put in at the last bridge over Warwoman Creek on the little gravel road. Take out at Sandy Ford on the Georgia side. You could take out at the confluence, but that wouldn't be as much fun as running some of Section 3 at big water.

Beware of Dick's Creek ledge at 5 feet or more. It forms a pretty big hole that killed a rafter a few years ago. Scout on the right, or far left.

Warwoman is covered in the video 'Deliver Me From The Paddlesnake'. It is mostly class 3, with a marginal 4 called Mattress. But, it is a good intro to creekin.

The second rapid is ideal for surfing.
The second rapid is ideal for surfing
The second rapid is ideal for surfing
Mattress is the most challenging rapid on Warwoman. Here\'s JT having a good run.
Mattress is the most challenging rapid on Warwoman.
Kevin and JT take opposite lines on a fun ledge.
Here\'s Kevin taking the right line through Pinball. At higher water levels, a line on the left opens up.
Here\'s Rhett taking the right line through Pinball. At higher water levels, a line on the left opens up.
This is the put-in bridge for Warwoman Creek
There is plenty of parking at the put-in.

This is the 'big' rapid on the run.