Whitewater River
Hwy 107 to Hwy 281(Upper Whitewater)
| Difficulty | IV-V+ |
| Length | 3.7 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 150 fpm |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 2, 2023 |
Projects
Western North Carolina is home to the highest mountains in the eastern US, abundant rainfall, globally significant biodiversity, and large tracts of federal lands. In combination these things add up to an incredible array of whitewater rivers and streams that have long been paddling classics. While many communities rely [...]Read More
River Description
This run was featured in the Wayne Gentry Video 'Southern Fried Creeking'.
Mile by mile gradient: 35, 102, 210, 205
The Whitewater River is the quickest run in the area, as the shuttle is only around 12-15 minutes and there is no hiking involved at all. There are only 7 big rapids and other than the boogie below the last few down to the takeout, the rest is mostly flatwater. The boogie is fun class 3 and easy 4, so assuming one has the ability to scout well, set good safety and make good decisions, this run can be done by most competent class 4 boaters. There are some components to this run that require extreme caution though, and therefore the overall feel of the run is more in the class 5 realm.
Shuttle: The takeout is located on the river right upstream end of the 281 bridge over the river. There is enough room for 3 cars parked single file. This is 7 miles south of the US 64 intersection near Lake Toxaway. To reach the putin drive further south for a few miles and then make a right onto a connector that goes a few miles over to 107. Upon reaching 107 drive around 4 miles to where the river comes right next to the road. Put in as far down as possible, as there is an unrunnable slide along the roadside section. There is a pullout 200 yards after the river comes into view that has a faint trail that descends 50 feet down to river level.
To run Silver Run Falls, continue another mile to the signed parking area for Silver Run Falls. Take the trail 1/4 mile to the base of the falls and then hike carefully up the river right side and to above the entrance slide. It should be noted that Whitewater should be running at least at a medium to medium high level for Silver Run to be padded out enough for a safe run. People have run it real low but the risk of a green landing is high. More water brings about different issues though, so know what you are doing before taking this drop on. Either way, if you are paddling the Whitewater run below, take b
...River Features
Putin at Hwy 107
Park at the pull off 150 yards North on Hwy 107 of where the river leaves the road on its journey downstream.
Short Putin
The road to this putin bridge is just a little ways south of the normal putin on the east side of Hwy 281. Do a little exploring and you will find it. This cuts out the flatwater and logjam filled paddle in.
Nasty Falls
A large log sits in the middle of this waterfall. Nasty looking seive here as well. A line does exist but best portaged around. There is a small eddy on river right above the falls. Don't miss this unless you want to risk it all. Seal launch in off the rock. Can also bypass this section completely by a nice trail system on river left.
The Mini-Gorge
Scout this in advance using the trail system on river left as logs tend to gather in here. The Mini Gorge is a true canyon about 30-40ft deep & about 100yds long. Once you are in the gorge you are committed to run the whole thing. Several drops are in here as well. Entrance which can be ran on the right. Sculpted Falls which is a 10-15ft boof. Around the corner is Little Canyon Falls which has somewhat of a fold in it but can be ran with a little angle. Finally it opens up with the 25ft Exit Falls. A very high angled waterfall into a large pool. Sometimes you can get a little boof at the bottom.
If you want you can portage the gorge on river left & run the final drop. This is no place to flip upside down so make sure youre on point.
Exit Falls
A high angled waterfall about 25ft tall. This is the final drop in the mini gorge. If you portage the gorge you can run this drop by finding a faint scramble path on river left.
Bedrock Falls
Scout on the left, and watch the bottom hole at high water.
Merge Lane
Big hole at the bottom. Start on river right & 'merge' into the flow. Easy to scout on river left. Not uncommon to see someone get surfed out of the hole at the bottom.
55 MPH Falls
Can portage on the right or left. The rapid is a series of small ledges followed by a long slide into a 12ft boof with a small slide below. Somewhat of a 'C' shape. The whole thing might drop around 30ft or more. The landing is somewhat shallow as well. Make sure to scout on either side as wood sometimes collects near the bottom. You'll have a lot of speed on this one as the name says.
Shallow Boof on 55 MPH Falls
At the bottom of 55 MPH Falls below the entry slide is a shallow 12-15ft boof. Check the landing before you leap to make sure it is padded out.
Big Ledge Falls
Most run the far right to boof. The left side appears to have an auto boof off a ledge but doesn't seem to get ran as often. Very large log is draped on the falls. If you take the right line make sure you boof river right of the log
Wheelchair Accessible Falls
The left side of this drop is nothing but disaster & dangerous. Wheelchair down the river right side & into a small boof. Wood gathers here frequently.
Portage Left Falls
As the name would imply there is a portage route along river left. About a 20ft+ boof. Make sure you come off the correct spot as boulders are below.
Takeout
On river left just before the bridge you should be able to spot a clearing that often gets used as a campsite. Follow the trail up & to the road. Can check the levels on the painted columns on the bridge.
Low Angle Slide
This leads into Twist and Shout, the final rapid above Whitewater Falls. Twist and Shout is the rapid in the bottom of the picture.
Twist and Shout
Don't miss the last eddy on the left. If you do that is all she wrote. Hike back up on river left 1/3 mile to parking area on Hwy 281
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportScouting trip up & down the river for photo references.
There is currently a big hemlock log wedged under the river left rock shelf on merge lane that extends out into the river. Don't see this flushing out anytime soon and it looks pretty sketchy.
I own the last cabin on river left before you get to the gorge. Stop and say hello if you come through.
Whitewater River Trip Report New
Forum: BoaterTalk
Date: Apr 14 2004, 2:44 GMT
From: LVM
http://www.lvmvideo.com/quicktime/tommywhitewater.mov
It rained about 3 inches in the Joccasee gorges area early this morning and we switched our destination from the linville to the Toxaway.
Not a drop of water, far as I can figure the baseflow drains out real quick in the area due to the solid rock and steep gradients to the SC valley below. Also the lakes above the putin slow up the flow, no water egardless,
so we went to the upper whitewater and it was low. 6 inches on the gauge and dropping.
The only thing of note was Tommy Hilleke's run of the box canyon of the the whitewater. This mini gorge is unique to the East Coast, existing no where else I know of (maybe in New York St. or something).
Anyway, Corran is the only person we have heard of running it. There is always wood in it, as there was today, and it was kinda manky.
But if it was clean it would be cooler than hell to run down through.
Basic layout
Big slide entry, lands on rock..
8 footer lands in pothole, with what appears to be a large rootball and horizontal log.
then right into a log across the river only 3 feet up on one side and in the river on the other.
A couple of us portaged around and seal launched in above the bottom tw drops.
The seal launch first scoped out by Dave was a wee bit wobly, but we were committed to it. Chris Granthams was unluky to be last, and instead of risking falling into the crack/drop half in kayak, he chose to throw his boat into the pothole upstream, jump in and clamber in his cockpit.
The crack was about 4 feet wide and 15 feet tall. The final falls is a near vertical 25 footer.
Most chose the river left hand double boof. From the bottom it looked good...down the middle.
Daniel
LVM
12-15 foot waterfall at the bottom of the big slide below hwy 281
nice slide below the bridge
This pull off yields a short 50 foot descent to the river. Start just upstream of the truck in this picture for a rough trail down to the river.
Start right here to avoid the undercut on river left, but plane over the flow driving to the left to avoid the meat of the hole at center and right. Good fun and a good place to swim.
There are two lines here. The far right yields a 17 foot boof that can be tricky. The easier line is on the left down the far side, running a chunky double ledge. Go fast, clear the first one and be ready for a big landing.
This is by far the big one on the run. Scout and portage on the right. Run down the middle fast and with a big boof off the 15 footer, and upon landing drive hard right away from the nastiness on the left. There is also some nastiness on the right next to the big drop, but a big boof should clear it.
We are standing next to the middle big drop here.
Down the middle looks pretty brainless and if it wasn't for the sketchy seal launch in from river right this would be more popular.