Forney Creek

Trailside

Reach banner
DifficultyIII-IV
Length3.8 mi
Avg Gradientn/a
GaugeOconaluftee River at Birdtown, Nc
Flow Rate as of 49 minutes
208 cfsbelow recommended
Reach Info Last UpdatedNovember 30, 2020

River Description

The final three miles or so of Forney Creek offers remote, scenic, and continuous class III/IV whitewater. Expect some class III boogie, a few more challenging sequences, a bit of wood (2019), and a fast descent. The creek is generally trailside so portaging and scouting are a breeze. More adventure surely lies upstream. The creek can be accessed by paddling 3 miles across Fontana Lake or by hiking in 2-3 miles from the end of the Road to Nowhere. Forney is a step up in difficulty from nearby Deep Creek, and more continuous than Hazel Creek. All are ideal packrafting runs if you have the appropriate skills.

Lat/longitude coords are a rough guide, to get you into the ballpark. Scout, explore, enjoy.


River Features

Put In

Distance: 0 mi

Take Out

Distance: 8 mi
Take Out

MJ
Matt Jackson

Jan 7, 2019


Hiking up from the confluence of Forney Creek with Fontana Lake.

Note that the river splits and the flow at the confluence is less than what you find upstream

A great hike-in adventure starting at the end of the Road to Nowhere.

JS
jacob sartain

Jul 10, 2006


we ran forney creek about four or five years back. If your looking for a long lake paddle in and a three to four mile hike up stream, for class three+ action then Forney is for you... It's a pretty remote area of the park with limited acess... whatch for wood and YELLOW JACKETS!!!! I think you may could hike down from the dome but not really sure how long that would take,not to mention the super long shuttle that would be involved..