Overflow Creek
USFS Road 86B to Overflow Creek Road Bridge
| Difficulty | IV-V(V+) |
| Length | 4.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 124 fpm |
| Gauge | Chattooga River at Burrells Ford, Nr Pine Mtn, Ga |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 0.95 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 14, 2015 |
River Description
Overflow Creek is a beautiful stream in the upper West Fork of the Chattooga watershed, originating in the Osage Mtn. and Blue Valley Overlook areas seen from Hwy 106 near Highlands, N.C. It is a fairly difficult Class IV-V(V+) creek with some big drops and beautiful scenery. The difficulty level increases with higher water, becoming pushy with large holes.
Overflow is narrow below the putin and there are often many trees and limbs in the river,so be vigilant after a major rain event for new wood. The first 1.5 miles are low-volume Class II-III before Clear Creek comes in on the left and adds flow and width. Volume picks up considerably again at Three Forks (where Holcomb, Big and Overflow Creeks converge and become the West Fork of the Chattooga) - this is an exceptionally beautiful area. There are many sizeable rapids, such as Hemlock Falls, First Fall or 'Pee Wee', Roundabout, Blind Falls, Gravity Falls, Singley's Falls, Marginal Monster, Pinball and Swiss Cheese. The 'Big Three' in difficulty are considered to be Gravity, Marginal and Pinball - though Singley's Falls has the greatest verticality (but not as demanding). Technically, the West Fork of the Chattooga begins at Three Forks, where Wild and Scenic protection is also extended 1/4 mile in all directions from the river. The Three-Forks trail begins about halfway up the shuttle road on the right, marked by a large engraved boulder - this trail will meet the river near Swiss Cheese, with a spur going off left to Holcomb Cr. It also continues West to Rabun Bald's summit.
Take-out and Put-In are easily accessed by Forest Service Rd. 86-B and 86 which is now signed as 'Overflow Creek Road' off of Warwoman Rd which either ends or begins on Hwy 28 depending on where you're driving from. Warwoman Rd has it's other end in Clayton GA by the Burger King.
From the take-out bridge, drive up 7.0 miles bearing right twice along the way to the Put-In - just past a culvert, with a short trail descendin
...River Features
Put-In Rapid
Most folks put in below, as shown. It's often run though, and best at higher water - run right of center to exit the bottom slot on right. Exposed ledge in landing zone below 1.3 ft becomes a serious piton hazard. Too far right and a recirculating cave will work you. Keep your bow up.
Hemlock Falls
Double drop of maybe 12 and 9 ft. Eddy above, run center/right center. There's a submerged piton rock center/left at lower water - be careful. Large tree is down across the approach before the eddy - tweeze through the limbs. - see some excellent helmet-cam footage of this and other rapids on Aaron Napoleon's WaterMaps site listed below by Singley's Falls.
Seven Car Pile-up
Blind, snaky S-turn starting far left. Tuck your elbows here, very narrow. Boats can get stuck if angled left at low water; if you're next in you won't know it - hence the name. This one gets more difficult at lower water levels.
First Fall or "Pee Wee"
About a 10 ft drop recognizable by large pool above with beautiful tributary waterfall coming down on left. Run center/right at higher water, far right at low.
Roundabout - Top
Constriction rapid through a scenic little mini-gorge. Enter top center, over the mushroom hump, then left on landing. Scout for new wood river left, if you're first down after a big rain. One boater experienced a very serious pin in here under a new log once.
Roundabout - Bottom
Bottom half of Roundabout - big hole develops midway down at 2.0 ft and above. (boater in photo is entering hole which is easy to punch at 1.6 ft)
Blind Falls
About an 18 ft drop, not an easy scout but can be had on right; more fun to just run it. Stay away from the left side - bad recirculating hole with cave. Launch center or right of center after picking your way down about 40 yds of Class III approach to horizon line - stay right of the little rooster tail on horizon line. Gravity Falls immediately below.
Gravity
Blind drop, eddy right to scout. Two drops of maybe 9 and 12 ft. Can be run center or boofing into left channel and staying left. Pothole on right to be avoided. There have occasionally been small trees in the left boof channel - which are hard to see. It's presently clear.
Alan Singley's Falls
Easy Class 5. Sloping 60 deg drop of maybe 30 ft. Approach far left or center. Manky at lower levels, go for big air down the ski mogul rocks on left. Cave on right if you get your bow pointed that way. A well-known hairboater had to return 3 days later to retrieve his boat from under here. Traditional fun to take first-timers down without scouting, then watch their faces from the bottom eddy. Here's a link to some great footage by Shane Benedict of Singley's as well as other rapids:
http://www.lvmvideo.com/quicktime/Overflow05.mov
And Watermaps has an excellent video done with 'Helmet-Cam' of all major rapids: http://www.watermaps.info/
Singley's Slot
Run right over the flake rock, through the slot on right. Two more drops in here spaced about 15 yds apart, ending in the 4th, 'Twilight.' The whole series rates a solid Class IV, which becomes Class 5 at 2.0 ft. (Does Robert ever actually use his paddle?)
Twilight
4th drop beginning with Singley's Slot, river narrows considerably here -boof over the pyramid rock in center but not right of it - there's a cave back there, thumping cave at high water. Rock may be dry at 1.0 ft or below so boof it a little left. Watch for tree overhead in the exit after landing. At 2.0 ft and above Singley's Slot through Twilight becomes Class 5 as all four drops run together into one large rapid. Here's a shot of the boof off the pyramid rock with drops 2 and 3 of the rapid in the background.
Bounce
Big boof opportunity: approach a little right of center with a little left angle and go for the boof.
Three-Forks
Not much of a rapid really, but a very scenic spot: Big Creek is pouring in from left over a large drop and around the boulders right is Holcomb Creek. Savor the scene just before entering Igor. This is a hike-out spot along Holcomb to the 3-Forks trail to FS 86-B if ever needed - like if Overflow flashes up to 4.5 ft, which has happened. The trail continues on the river left side past Big Creek up the ridge to a dead-ended gravel road 'Three Forks Road' coming off Hwy 28.
Igor
Class 5 at higher water. About 80 yds of approach leading into Marginal Monster. Sieve/strainer at lower right of this rapid - more of a problem at low flows; at higher flows the left side opens up. Eddies in between drops. Eddy out left of the giant boulder in center at the bottom to scout Marginal. A swim here and you're heading into Marginal, which has happened to a few stunned and wide-eyed individuals - not recommended.
Marginal Monster
The Big Kahuna. Bad keeper hole on top left of first drop, one near-drowning reported. Catch the eddy at top after a hairy ferry. Can be run center over the rock, eddy out then boof the next 10 ft drop, or run right - eddy right and motor across the current left to boof the 10 footer. Undercut right and left here. Last drop has a thumping hole on right, run center or left for best results. Dry line is on the left.
Little 7-Foot
Below Marginal, approach center then hard left to make a cool 7-foot boof off the flake. Pinball immediately below.
Pinball
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Long, complex rapid with many routes, some of which you may not have intended to run. Very busy rapid, and not a place to flip - head and rib injuries have occured here. Classic line is down the center below the top boulder, or right. A few runs left have been made. Hole at bottom left will flip but not keep you. There's a good video attached. Easy portage left if desired.
Swiss Cheese
15 ft drop on left into a diagonal hole. Angle hard right and high for dynamic carve into eddy below the cheese rocks or angle right and head for the bottom. Shallow below - the 'cheese grater' has taken skin from many knuckles after flips. Creeky boof slot on far right into eddy if so inclined.
Fat Lady
It's over when the Fat Lady sings. Right to left move, hole below at higher water can be surprisingly grabby. Drift to the takeout, check the level, go up and run it again.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportWe ran yesterday. Put on at 1.8 and took off at 2.1. The correlation with burrell's ford is not exact. According to that guage overflow should have peaked around 1.6 (but we physically saw it at 2.1). I suppose it's okay for a general idea of what is going on at overflow but not totally accurate. Also, I have heard a lot of people from different groups say that the bridge guage is reading lower than it used to.... like 1ft now is closer to what 1.2 used to be. I can't confirm this but have heard it from several different people.
Dallas
A cold winter day. Left line.
Photo by Tim Gill
Be careful the Forest Service is checking permits on Overflow regularly now and they had a roadblock set up at 28 and Burrells Ford at 3 pm on a Sunday targeting boaters with cool beverages.
A permit is required for Overflow. There is now a USFS information board and permit box at the put-in (as of 1/2/07; it wasn't there on 12/2/06).
Word is that the Forest Service is requiring that permits be filled out prior to a run, as with the Chattooga. The form is the same - I don't know if forms are being made available at the takeout or if you have to go to the kiosk at the Hwy 76 parking lot for Chattooga (which would be a major inconvenience). Indicate the level on the form.
Geoff Kohl running Roundabout.
Finally, conclusive proof that it doesn't take any skill whatsoever to paddle an open boat! Here's Milt Aitken's barge running a perfect 'dry' line through Roundabout.
Geoff Kohl running a nice line on Singley's Slot.
Robert Bone on his virgin trip down Overflow. And a nice line at Singley's Slot.
I have a couple of overflow videos on my site
The Chattooga River is the WRONG gage to use as an indicater for Overflow Creek. A much more accurate gage is the USGS Cullasaja River at SR 1620. Here's how the levels correlate so far:
When Cullasaja is 225 cfs Overflow is around Low (about 0.9)
When Cullasaja is 310 cfs Overflow is around medium (about 1.5)
When Cullasaja is 500 cfs Overflow is high. (about 2.0)
I have an Excel 2000 spreadsheet that predicts the levels for Overflow Creek and several other rivers in the southeast. If you'd like a copy of this spreadsheet e-mail me at H2Olevelcheck@boatingbeta.com and I will send it to you. I only check this address weekly, so pardon me if I don't get back to you right away.
Paddle Safe - Rob Maxwell
Emerging from the foam pile at the Put-In Rapid to exit the slot on the right.
Looking back up at Hemlock - Drew in the eddy above.
Middle line in Pinball - top 1/3 of the rapid.