Cumberland, Big South Fork

Day 1 - Leatherwood Ford to Station Camp

We put in around 1:30pm with a flow of 850 cfs, which rose to above 900 for the remainder of the day, reaching 970 at its max. Even with our open rec boats, none of the rapids had big enough waves at this level to cause concern. However, after running the leg from Ship Rock area to Blue Heron at around 5000 cfs (see other report), I would not advise an open rec boat on this river.

The water moves relatively quickly to Angel Falls. We made it to the portage within ~45 (maybe even 30) minutes. The striking cliff face in the center of the river mentioned in other reports is a great marker for the portage on river right. The start of the portage was still a sandy bank at this level, but it quickly became a rock bed that turned to a somewhat overgrown trail uphill before becoming an obvious trail. A sign marks where the portage trail ends and you put back in. The trail is a 0.25 mile at least, and even for very fit, active people, is quite time consuming and tiring. For planning purposes, I would give yourself 2.5 hours to identify the portage, complete it, and spend some time enjoying the Falls, as it is the most scenic feature in this stretch.

The water becomes predominantly flat for the remainder of this section. With some dedicated paddling, we arrived at Station Camp around 7:30pm (~2 mph). We only noticed two sites here, so best to have park hiking maps handy for identifying where hiking campsites might be likely along the banks in case these are full. There are two pit toilets and bear proof trash cans at Station Camp, so it's a nice spot if you can snag it.