| Difficulty | II+(III) |
| Length | 3.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 20 fpm |
| Gauge | Clear Fork Near Robbins, Tn |
| Flow Rate as of 25 minutes | 34 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 12, 2025 |
Clear Fork consists of mostly class II+ rapids with one class III near the end. It is frequented by boaters looking to make the Big South Fork of the Cumberland run longer.
Burnt Mill Bridge to Confluence Shuttle Information
From the takeout parking lot take John Long Road for 4.8 miles. Make a right on Airport Road for 1 mile. Turn left on Detour Road for 1 mile. Turn right across the railroad tracks. Make a right on Hwy 27. Go 6.0 miles to Old Hwy 27, which is the second right past the New River Bridge. Follow Old Hwy 27 for 1.3 miles to B&H Market and Deli. Make a right then a left at the next stop sign. Go about 2 miles to the Crossroads Church and make another right. Burnt Mill Bridge will be approximately 1 mile.
Here is a link to a Big South Fork area map. The roads mentioned above are very detailed on this map.
Camping Options
Camping options are available in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
Additional Information
For additional information about paddling in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, checkout A Guide to Paddling in the Big South Fork.
Here is a link for all information on the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
Contact the streamKeeper: Brandon Hughett, Knoxville, Tennessee
Burnt Mill Bridge is a put-in on Clear Fork. A new bridge has been recently built. Parking is available at the west end of the bridge.
The Flume is the middle of three rapids on Clear Fork where the river channels into a 10ft wide passage. The entrance rapid is refered to as Rocky Top while the rapid after the Flume is called Broken Rib. This section is also called The Little Three. The Flume can creat a strong backwash at higher flows and can surprise you. You will be in it before you realize where you are.
New River and Clear Fork meet at the confluence to form the Big South Fork. This is also the putin for the Big South Fork of the Cumberland. Access to the parking area is by hiking 1/4 mile uphill to the end of John Long Road.
Apr 5, 2015
Thursday we had a mixed group, from Canada eh?, that did Clear Fork to the Confluence while a smaller group went all the way down to Leatherwood Ford on the BSF proper. Clear Fork was approx 570cfs. Six BlackFly canoes and one kayak (me). Plenty of water to avoid a scraping, shallow day on this section. Once you turn off of Highway US27 the posted directions for this section work fine, but there are also supplemental Brown Natl Park Service signs and other signage to get you to Burnt Mill Bridge without issue. Pit Toilets at BMB now. Our group all scouted Funnel/Flume Rapid from river left and setup rope on river left. Speaking of which, about the time you'd be thinking that 'Flume should be showing up soon' Clear Fork starts to narrow down and you get into your first more-interesting rapid after a long-ish flatter stretch. Even from low-down, close to the water in my kayak, you definitely get the sense that something more substantial is approaching and I could see strong indications that the river was going to get very narrow between some large sets of boulders even though I could not see the Flume-Hole itself until we got out and scouted.
Mar 12, 2015
From well upstream of Double Drop, scouting from river right, the entrance rapid (pool) , first drop and some details of the second drop. Most of the other photos give better details of the drop itself but the entrance is a pool