Williams, West Virginia, US

2. Tea Creek to Three Forks of Williams

Usual Difficulty	III-IV (for normal flows)
Length	11 Miles
Avg. Gradient	53 fpm
Max Gradient	80 fpm

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
WILLIAMS RIVER AT DYER, WV
usgs-03186500	3.30 - 5.00 ft	III-IV	01h28m	2.3 ft (rc= -0.6 )

River Description

This is a great small stream with lots of laurel and trout fishermen. The latter are particularly abundant after stocking. If you like intimate water with lots of eddy-hopping you will find it here.

This stretch begins with a short section of class II water after the putin just below the bridge crossing the Williams at Tea Creek CG. After this the Williams is almost constant class III eddy-hopping and playing. At higher levels it is a solid class III/IV run. Almost the entire run is scoutable from the road (FS 86). It is also quite possible to shorten the run - just find a convenient pull-off on FS 86 as far downriver as you want to paddle and park your takeout vehicle.

Our first run on the Williams was just before Memorial Day, 2000. We saw that the Craigsville gauge was running about 13 feet and the Cranberry gauge was too low to run so we headed over to the Cherry. When we got there the Cherry was too low to run. Let's see - there are 4 major streams that provide water for the Craigsville gauge - the top reaches of the Gauley, the Williams, the Cranberry, and the Cherry. Since the last two didn't have much water it had to be the Williams or the Gauley. We took a chance and headed to the Williams. The folks at the Cranberry Visitor Center verified our suspicion when they told us that there had been a significant, isolated thunderstorm in the upper reaches of the Williams.

Putin: Bridge on FS 86 (off WV 150) at Tea Creek CG.

Takeout: Bridge on FS 86 at Three Forks of the Williams.