Abrams Creek

March 20, 2021. In a Star Slice cataraft. Level on the Little River gauge was about 3.4ft and two days previously quite a lot of rain fell in the area. Nearly three inches in my cheap, backyard rain gauge in Knoxville and the TVA website's CadesCove rain gauge recorded 2 inches of rain 48 hours previously. During the drive to the put-in I could see that the feeder creeks were in great shape though running with clear water. My assessment is that these conditions are minimum for a Star Slice cataraft or a small raft but if just using canoes or kayaks it is a very nice level indeed. Moving very slowly, solo in my cataraft, and stopping several times to scout for trees, I took 5 hours from launch to Takeout including the slow paddle across the lake. About a half mile downstream from the put-in I had to drag my boat over a river-wide log; the hemlock was mostly free of branches and the water is slow in the area so it was an easy portage. From that spot over the next three quarters mile there were a few minor, nuisance pieces of wood but easy to avoid at my water level. Stopped for lunch at the old ruins on river left at Mill Branch. About a half mile downstream from Mill Branch, where the river takes the first severe oxbow turn to the left, in an extended series of winding ox-bows, I saw the river-wide jumble of trees/strainers mentioned in the Feb 2021 note/comment. I ferried over to river left and dragged the cataraft around the jumble of trees. The water is moving here but I had plenty of distance upstream to notice the mess. Historically there is often a jumble of trees at this spot on river right and there are signs of beavers in the area. No other strainers seen until the canyon/gorge section which I would describe as a series of class 2 and possibly 2+ rapids that come at you far, far more frequently than anything else seen in the previous 5.5 miles. Two of these class 2's are quite close to each other and the other three or four have some short gaps for recovery between them. Two of them are at sharp bends in the creek where you cannot see the runout and I halted and walked downstream a bit first to get a clear view of any hidden strainers. Several of these class 2's are formed by extended ledges or jumbles of rocks from bank to bank and in two of them medium to large-sized trees lurk in the channels at kayak chest or kayak-head height. In the runout of one of these class 2's a massive diameter log crosses the channel at about five feet above water left. At my water level it was easy to duck underneath. I was graced with a very unusual tailwind of northeasterly winds to help me paddle the mile to the US129 bridge and Takeout.

Took 4 beginners down at 3.5 feet. Such a beautiful run! Took 3.5 hours, including the rather time-consuming flatwater section at the end. Great level for class 2 paddlers, though there are 3 class 3 rapids, all of which are in the last few miles, through the little gorge section. The first one is a long right hand bend where it's hard to see around the corner, though the eddies are bit and it's easy to eddy-hop halfway down to see what's ahead. The second is a bit of a tricky little chute on river left but we walked around it because there was wood in play. And the third is where the river splits around an island. The right chute looks really good but it was fully blocked by wood and the left requires a bit of a tricky set-up but the actual move (down two small chutes) is very straightforward. There were 2 big log jams fully across the river where we had to go up and around and several other places where strainers were definitely blocking the ideal line. Everything is easy to see ahead of time and there are plenty of good eddies to catch above and below drops, though there are some pretty continuous section. Definitely worth the drive from Knoxville!

I emphatically second Trey's observation: we ran it in May, '19, when the Townsend gauge read 2.9', and it would be a crime to take a Class II boater on this stretch. For the first half of the run it was a genuine Class II, but the second half contained several moderately technical rapids that were nearly as difficult as the totality of Nantahala Falls and every bit as difficult as the crux Falls drop itself, the benchmark Class III rapid. At our level we didn't see the wave-train rapids Trey saw; everything was moderately technical rock-slalom. There is no place to take off once the pace picks up except by bushwhacking 1/4 to 1/2 mile through National Park and private land to Happy Valley Road. I don't see how anyone can rate this creek at less than Class III-minus at the level we ran it.

if the level is over 3.25 this is a class II/III run. at those levels several rapids take on some hefty characteristics, all not able to be scouted. not a problem for anyone comfortable on class III wave trains and river features, but if a class II boater and never done anything above that, could prove to be a long day if running at the higher flows. great run though, very remote and beautiful!!!

July 4th weekend of 2013 saw unusually high water levels here and there across Tennessee & NC. However, the Little River and Abrams Creek, and also Tellico, watersheds missed the rain seen just about everywhere else. Today, at 3.1 feet on the Little River at Townsend gauge Lower Abrams was runnable, but unlike a previous trip I was scraping rocks every now and again. We saw some strainers, but the significant ones were all in the first 1.5 miles or so. The first one was about .3 miles below the putin and was a mandantory portage. The others, in our kayaks, we were able to sneak past or weasel through.

Ran the Abrams CG down to the lake section for the first time Sat March 10th. Little River gauge was around 3.25ft. Kayaker...historically I paddle class 3-4, with the odd 5 here and there but I love any scenic river, especially wilderness river, no matter what the difficulty. Will come back with my open boat some time in the future. Abrams Creek was beautiful.
The most recent posts have plenty of information about trees due to last year's tornado. I have little to add to their data-- In the areas where the tornado was close or 'In' the creek the overwhelming majority of the trees were blown down parallel to the creekbed...in other words, very few were knocked down such that they would interfere with a boater. On our run there were maybe 4-5 spots where a tree was down across the entire river. In all cases they were easy to see/ID from well upstream and at our water level we could all boof/scrape over them (1 hard boat kayak and 2 duckies). As I recall most of these trees were missing branches, so they looked more like 'logs over the creek' rather than 'trees down in the creek.' The only section, in fact, that I found even slightly 'strainer-dicey' was about a mile (1.5 miles?) below the putin where the main channel was on river left and you had downed trees with branches coming out into the river from both the river left and also the river right.
At 3.2ft the flow was constant. Rapids were mostly class 2's and the pools were not long and not slow. These were not Hiwassee pools (large, very-slow-mowing water)...overall we were kept moving at a pretty constant pace and we completed the entire run in about 3.5 hours (including the lake, to the takeout) with perhaps 20 minutes of stops along the way.
W.r.t the comments about the stretch of class 2-3 rapids about 1 mile above the lake-- yes, it's worth a scout for folks who do not routinely run class 3 rapids. The individual drops were all class 2, perhaps 2+, I'd say, and it's pretty obvious when you're getting into this section as: 1) you'd have been on the run for some time and know that you're close to the end; 2) the river narrows a bit and some small cliffs/rock faces on either side of the creek; 3) the noise of the rapids is enough to make you take notice.

Ran lower Abrams today at 2.9 on the Little gauge. Some places were scrapy but still plenty of water. There were at least 4 logs spanning the entire river. The first had a tiny slot to sneak past, the 2nd and 3rd were in slower water and boofable the 4th was a foot or so under at this level. Was able to make it without portaging. still plenty of other wood to watch out for though. keep an eye out as I'm sure it will all be shifting for some time. Also, i agree a couple spots are above the class two range. not terribly hard but harder than expected for a class two run. very beautiful even after the tornado.

Just a tiny sample of the thousands of downed trees on lower Abrams Creek as a result of the April 27, 2011 EF-4 tornado

Just a tiny sample of the thousands of downed trees on lower Abrams Creek as a result of the April 27, 2011 EF-4 tornado

Following is a an article I wrote for the Chota Canoe Club newsletter.
For years I have wanted to paddle lower Abrams Creek because of the good water quality, easy whitewater, easy access and pristine nature of the run. The only issue has been the limited window of availability. On September 7, 2011, I got my chance as the river was coming down from the 5 inch rain in Knoxville (3 inches in Cades Cove) the previous weekend. The Little River gauge above Townsend was 2.2 feet, so the level was 6 inches less than the AWA website recommended minimum of 2.7 feet. I would guess the flow was about 80 cfs. Based on my experience I would agree with the recommended minimum of 2.7 feet. My bike shuttle was 7 miles; the river distance was about 10 miles.

The storm system that hit the south on April 27 spawned an EF-4 tornado that destroyed trees along a 20 mile section of the Abrams Creek watershed. Apparently the tornado touched down along Chilhowee Lake, knocked down one of the electric transmission towers and then proceeded upstream on the creek. By my observation, the tornado ran in the stream bed for over a mile at the mouth of the creek, crossing the creek several times as it moved upstream. The 160 mph winds destroyed literally thousands of trees in the watershed. I have hiked from the FS campground all the way to Cades Cove and looks like the tornado left Abrams Creek about 2.5 miles below Abrams Falls. FS personnel have done a wonderful job reopening this trail (Little Bottoms).

At 2.2 feet, the creek starts with easy Class 1-2 ledges that require maneuvering to hit the clean chutes. Farther downstream, the bedrock becomes progressively more fractured and the drops a little steeper and more complex – maybe Class 2+. About halfway down, the effect of the tornado becomes apparent with huge piles of broken limbs and treetops piled along the banks. Despite the carnage on the hillsides, there were only 5 trees in the river that required a portage. It is a beautiful section of river but the overall effect was sort of depressing because of all the destruction. It seems likely that high water this winter will cause some epic logjams that will further degrade the experience.