Little Pigeon, Middle Prong (The Greenbrier), Tennessee, US |
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| Usual Difficulty | III-IV (for normal flows) |
|---|---|
| Length | 3 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 107 fpm |
| Max Gradient | 135 fpm |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflow weir and WS at St. Francis, Cincinnati OH | ||||
| usgs-390735084333300 | 2000 - 10000 cfs | III-IV | 01h13m | 0 cfs (rc= -0.2 ) |
| LITTLE PIGEON RIVER ABOVE SEVIERVILLE, TN | ||||
| usgs-03469175 | 800 - 5000 cfs | III-IV | 2y120d16h58m | 227 cfs (rc= -0.1 ) |
Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to the Streams of Tennessee, B. Sehlinger and Otey.
Southeastern Whitewater, Monte Smith.
North Carolina Creeks and Rivers, Leland Davis.
People have been boating this classic class 3 run for a long time and for good reason. The river has pleasant class 3 creek rapids set in an enchanting environment that is accessible to the adventuresome novice and still appreciated by more serious boaters. The river runs frequenlty during rainy periods, and access is simple and unhindered.
This run is in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so the aesthetics and water quality are expectedly high. The Middle Prong alternates between brief mild mannered roadside straightaways and powerful bends away from the road loaded with holes and pushy boulder slaloms. It should be noted that most of the rapids occur on these bends, so they cannot be seen when scouting. There are a few exceptions.
The best putin is at the confluence of Porters Creek. This is around 3.5 miles up the Greenbriar road from US 321, and is right before the road crosses Porters Creek.
Note: If the water is quite high, or if Porters looks to have ample flow, a fun option is to hike up as far as you like on Porters for a nice class 3 flushy run with a few technical woody rapids.
After launching, one immediately enters into solid class 3 shoulder boofing for around 1/3 mile. This is a great rapid and a sometimes suprising warmup for newer paddlers. Next is a long series of bends and straightaways, which comprise a bulk of the run. The rapids are in the bends. When in doubt go right at islands. There will be a handfull of memorable features and a few exciting class 3+ jumbles.
When it feels like you have gone a few miles, watch for the big rapid that can be seen from up high on the road when running shuttle. This is Big Pillow. At low water, run the tight slalom course down the right bank, careful and aware that a large hole exists at the bottom in the center of the river. Drive right at the bottom over the curl, or let it throw you in for a nice moment of chaos. At higher flows, you can run along the left bank and hit a nice 4 foot boof, but watch the hole.
The river does a couple more bends away from the road, and regardless of flow it is important to be on the lookout for a large pourover on the apex of the last bend to the left. The hole is on the outside of the turn, so stay on the left, or be ready to boof and land on a stroke. This spot eats regularly.
After the pourover the river comes back to the road and stays there for the last 1/2 mile. The final set is called Ranger Station. There are two ledge rapids in here, the first being the more consequential. Here, to avoid a nasty pin in the center of the river, there is a cool 4 foot boof on the left bank. The rest of this one is straightforward. The second part has some great attainments so catch some eddys in here.
Takeout on river left immediately after the seond part of Ranger Station Rapid. There is a beach here where people get married sometimes, and its a 30 foot walk across the road to the parking lot.
Here are some links to some park websites for info on weather and road conditions:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
NPS Map of the Park
Now there is a better way. There is a gauge called Little Pigeon above Sevierville which measures the flow of only the Middle Prong and the East Fork of the Little Pigeon. This more accurately conveys flows in the upper stretches of the Middle Prong, as the West Prong is not included in the values recorded at this gauge location. This spot is four miles upstream of the West Prong confluence
Using local radar rainfall totals, investigate whether the rain was valley precipitation or whether it fell in the higher altitudes at the top of the headwaters. If it fell high then look for levels of 800 cfs or more for good flows. If it is still rising it is anyone's bet, based on rainfall totals. If it is falling and is below 1000, there may be a chance of getting skunked.
National Weather Service/NOAA Rain gauge for Sevier County
Newfound Gap is a good rain gauge for this run, though it is in one watershed west, that of the West Prong Little Pigeon. If there has been an inch or more, this is likely to be running, with more rain required after extended dry periods.
This run is navigable on a more regular basis than people realize, and has a sizable drainage.
At the US 321 bridge, There is a gauge on the midstream river left bridge abutment that is faintly spraypainted on the upstream face. Unfortunately as of 12/2006, the gauge is not readable and needs a repaint real soon. The section described herein can be run as low as 1.7 feet on the gauge and as high as you like.At 3 feet the run is quite big and gauleyesque.
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflow weir and WS at St. Francis, Cincinnati OH | ||||||||||||
| usgs-390735084333300 | 2000 - 10000 cfs | III-IV | 01h13m | 0 cfs (rc= -0.2 ) | ||||||||
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This gauge is way downstream but is still a decent indicator. Beware the valley rain! |
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| LITTLE PIGEON RIVER ABOVE SEVIERVILLE, TN | ||||||||||||
| usgs-03469175 | 800 - 5000 cfs | III-IV | 2y120d16h58m | 227 cfs (rc= -0.1 ) | ||||||||
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No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
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3. Porter's Creek Confluence to Hwy 73 , Little Pigeon, Middle Prong (The Greenbrier) Tennessee, US (mobile)
User Comments
ruin your day. This in the rapid about 200-400 yards before the rapid AW calls Big Pillow. The
rapid starts off angling from left to right with a big tombstone rock on the bank in the corner
then doglegs back to the left. It is important to get to the center of the river or left of center
once you pass the corner where the tombstone rock is. Unfortunately at the low flows this rock is
in play as almost all of the flow is directed right at it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/teledave/PA200036.jpg
http://www.boatertalk.com/forum/BoaterTalk/1659925 June 25, 2009 - If you didn't catch it, an
overturned kayak was found just outside of the Smokies on the MP of the Little Pigeon. It spurred a
search and rescue scenario that was serious enough for it to be reported to local TV stations. Not
sure of the outcome and I hope everyone is OK. But this did raise a very significant question. Who
do we notify when we a boat gets pinned or gets out of our control in the Smokies and darkness or
other circumstances force us to abandon it for any period of time? My friend Russell asked this
question and this was his post on a local paddling list serve. I asked the GSMNP folks what would
be the best way to report a lost boat.Here is their reply: Hello, If there is a report of an
accident or missing person, the park responds and/or conducts a search, but just finding an empty
kayak in the water would not necessarily result in a full-fledged search and rescue effort as the
town of Pittman Center launched during the recent incident. If one of your club members loses a
boat, but is otherwise okay, please call the park's Dispatch Office at (865) 436-1230 to let them
know that an empty boat may be found and it is not an emergency situation. This is a non-emergency
line which is staffed from 6:00 a.m. - midnight, but if a serious accident or other emergency has
occurred in the park, sometimes all available dispatchers have to concentrate on radio
communications among responding units and don't answer the line. If there is an accident with a
serious injury or a member of your party is known to be missing, please call 911. Best regards,C.
BloomGreat Smoky Mountains National Park
is a tree completely accross the river. Easily avoided at low water. Not so easy if water gets up
perhaps.
hairy spots. This is a great place for beginers at creaking and want to go the distence in your
paddleing skills. I recomned puting in at one of the few flat water places to get warmed up for the
almost nonstop class 3-4 rapids. Cut all the logs from porter/ ramsey to 321 from run. I run this
creek at FULL flood (6-10 ft) in a tube .. must be class 4 + at this time (6-8ft. waves below
ranger station).. excellent !! Edit