Rocky (Cape Fear trib.)
2. Chatham Church Rd to Deep River confluence(Lower Rocky River)
| Difficulty | II+(III) |
| Length | 4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 18 fpm |
| Gauge | Rocky R at Us 64 Near Siler City, Nc |
| Flow Rate as of 34 minutes | 2 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 5, 2026 |
River Description
This is a nice run to try when the Lower Haw is at flood. It is a bit harder than the Middle Haw and a bit easier than the Lower Haw. At good flow levels there is one class III ledge and bunch of class I to II+ rapids along this stretch. There are lots of small play features - bring the playboat if you have one.
Before starting, check out the run from the 15/501 bridge over the Rocky River. This bridge is about 7 miles south of Pittsboro. After crossing the bridge, turn into the drive on the left and park on the old road right of way that parallels 15/501. You can then use the bridge to take a look at the river. If you see a lot of rocks downstream from the bridge, it is probably too low. The class III ledge can be seen upstream from the 15/501 bridge in the distance. There is also a visual gauge on the river right downstream bridge support. There is a goat trail down to the river you can use to look at the visual gauge. A good minimum is probably -6 inches. The run is fun at 6 inches to 1 foot. At 2 feet, bank sweepers are common and the river washes into the trees in numerous places. There are lots of great play features at around 2.5 feet. Many of the small features probably start to wash out above 3 feet.
The put-in is where Chatham Church Road crosses the Rocky River. This is a one-lane dirt road with a steel trestle bridge, with decent pullouts on both sides. Access trail is river-left. The takeout is just before the Rocky River confluences with the Deep River, in TLC's White Pine Preserve. You have to hike about 10 minutes up a well-maintained trail to the parking lot.
From the put-in there is about 2/3 a mile of flatwater for a nice warm-up. You will see a small deck/dock on the left and then the river bends to the right. Just after the bend, class I rapids begin. It starts with some pretty mild ledges. There are some small waves to surf just to warm up a bit. After a few ledges, there is a larger rapid. This rapid is a 4-5 foot ledge. O
...River Features
Put In
Knucklebuster Ledge
Formerly referred to as the 'Big Ledge'. The left side is side surfable but will pound you around if you get lazy. It is pretty sticky above 2 feet on the paddler gauge and you need to try to work to river left in order to flush out, but beware of the logjam below. Any flipping will generally result in the rapid attempting to rip your paddle loose and banging your hands along the rocky bottom. Easier lines mid-channel and river right. There is a surf spot center-right at levels from -3' to 1.5'. Above 2 feet this is a fun wave, but it is hard to catch.
Round 2
This surfing ledge is just below Knucklebuster and seems to just get better with higher flows. Decent eddy service on river-left.
Unnamed Ledge
Yet to be named. Good side surfing ledge.
Roundhouse Cut
This jumble of boulders creates multiple lines with personalities that change with flow ranges. At lower ranges, there's limited options and a slot. Medium flows create a counterclockwise weak whirlpool in the main rapid, which is fun to ride if you're expecting it. This washes out at higher flows but the water gets squirrelly and play gets interesting. There's one or two boof lines with at least one rock to cut your knuckle on (Cory T. 2015).
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportJust wanted to update that the flow can only be accurately seen by looking at the pier on 15/501. We scraped but still had a great time at what showed as 5cfs on the hwy 64 gage. Keep in mind that this doesn't mean 5cfs is runnable, but that you need to consider about 6-12 hours from the 64 gage to this section. In researching what happened I see that Tick creek read high (620 cfs) the night before and rocky river at 64 peaked at around 150 cfs two days before. No way to calculate bear creek but this also contributed. This all combined gave us right around -12' or slightly lower on the paddlers gage on 15/501. At this level scraping was about equal to what middle haw would be around its minimum but with significantly more excitement in terms of gradient drops and the bigger rapids including the class III drop runnable. I mention this so that others will understand that this is running much more than what people think it is and I think this is seriously under run considering what a great section of river this is. Similarly if you manage to hit this run when it's at it's stated cfs minimum, also consider the time from 64 to this section. I've done this with 314cfs on the 64 gage after a night before reading over 1000 and the next morning in this section was definitely more than 314 and was a wild ride with one sticky spot towards the end and large waves of boogie water right after 15/501 similar to ocean boulevard on the haw but bigger waves. My personal reference will be to check the pier if the day before got at least the minimum and/or tick creek is reading high. The description of seeing water when driving over the bridge at 15/501 and seeing water is accurate.
I think it is worth mentioning that the above mentioned roundhouse cut rapid is the most difficult and should be scouted the first time. It's about a quarter mile after the creek that enters from river left after the river bends right. You should probably get out river left well ahead of the horizon line to scout. River left has a decent drop that develops a hole at higher flows. To the right of that is a nice chute at lower levels and to the right of that is a drop that is easiest to find from above but runs into the chute perpendicular so is a good flip risk. I've seen flips and swims here, but it's manageable if you anticipate the counter flow. After this spot are some good play waves and the run ends with a really nice wave train that doesn't quite reach class III, but has some big waves to boogie on through.
Use the flat water after the put-in to warm up.
After the flat water ends, the rapids start with a few small ledges.
After the first smaller ledges is a bigger ledge. Single drop on river left and 2 or 3 drops in the center or river right depending on the slot chosen.
Hard to see in this photo, but there is a pretty nice play spot at the bottom of the bigger ledge. It's about 1/3 the way over from river right.
The big ledge from downstream. Note it is broken into a series of small ledges on river right (left of picture). Nice play spot between the two rocks (one submerged and one not). River left (right of picture) is a single drop, with a sticky hole on the far left.
9 inches on the visual gage. This gage is on the river right downstream support on the 15/501 bridge
After the 15/501 bridge, there are a bunch of small ledges followed by another stretch of flatwater
Nice ledge rapid - there are two lines on this one. This is the right line, which is a bunch of fun.
There is a small hole at the bottom on the right line. Nothing difficult - just slows you down for a second or two.
The left line on this ledge is more of a single drop. There is a bigger hole at the bottom waiting to grab you and make things exciting.
Further down there is a nice set of waves that form a great play spot. Great staging eddy in the center of the river that is easy to catch.
The Lower Rocky at the take out before it rained.