Cheoah, |
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| Usual Difficulty | IV-V (may vary with level) |
|---|---|
| Length | 9.25 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 83 fpm |
| Max Gradient | 146 fpm |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHEOAH RIVER NR BEARPEN GAP NR TAPOCO, NC | ||||
| usgs-0351706800 | 400 - 2500 cfs | IV-V | 03h23m | 1010 cfs (rc= 0.3 ) |
The Cheoah River is
located in the extreme southwestern corner of NC, near Robbinsville. For seventy years the
nine-mile section between the Santeetlah Dam and Lake Calderwood was dewatered. American
Whitewater along with the Western North Carolina Paddlers advocated for releases for over 6
years. Whitewater releases on the Cheoah began in the fall of 2005. Each year there are at
least 18 releases for paddlers to enjoy for the next 40 years.
The Cheoah is unusual for rivers of its volume in the Southeast in that its gradient is
relatively constant. This means that with the exception of 2 or 3 half mile or so sections, it is
unusually continuous, more so than anything else with a similar volume of water in the Southeast.
Some call it "warm western-style paddling;" those paddling it at the higher winter 2002 flows
continued the Western analogies, comparing it to Pine Creek on the Arkansas and the Lochsa at
high water. No doubt contributing to the analogies was the water quality, which was crystal clear
during the winter flows. All who have paddled the Cheoah have agree it will become one of the
crown jewels of whitewater world.
The portion of the
Cheoah from JoAnne's Gas and Grocery Store to Lake Calderwood can be broken into three sections:
a 1.5 mile brushy and tree-clogged upper section with a number of sticky holes and a potentially
troublesome river-wide ledge a bit downstream of the hydroelectric bypass pipe, a 4 mile
relatively open and mild middle section that features some nice wave trains at higher water
levels, and a 1.5 mile lower section with the most gradient and the best defined drops. Efforts
have been made to clear channels in the upper sections of the river, however there are large root
balls scattered throughout the stream bed and swimmers should be extremely careful.
At flows of about 1000 cfs or under, the upper section is about a half grade and the middle
section a full grade easier than the lower section, with the first two sections similar in
difficulty to the Ocoee. The risks are greater, however, as much of the channel is heavily lined
with trees and brush, giving the run a nature akin to paddling during a flood. The main technical
challenge is presented by the frequent series of offset holes. Because of the trees and brush, it
is not a good place to paddle if you don't have a rock-solid roll and the ability to read water
well on the fly (bank scouting would not be fun).
The lower section is
the best defined, with a number of classic drops. It begins at the bridge on which the Bearpen
Gap gauge is located. My favorites were the sequence of four drops with the biggest single
drop on the river (a ledge about 8 feet high) being the third and the drop beginning at the
bridge downstream of the Tapoco Lodge. There were many, many waves to surf and a number of very
playable holes, including two potential rodeo sites: one at Tapoco Lodge and one at the end of
the drop beginning at the bridge downstream of the Lodge.
At the highest level paddled during the summer test releases (4.7 feet / 1,130 cfs), the upper and lower sections were much closer in difficulty as the offset holes were beginning to get sticky. The hole below the river-wide ledge was beginning to look scary at this level; recovery after a swim would be challenging due to the thickets of trees growing in the water and on both banks for a considerable distance downstream. The lower section didn't change much, so the result was a run that was a lot more fun but not any scarier (assuming strong class IV skills, and keeping in mind that the Ocoee only requires strong class III skills). If more of the trees and brush were removed, the upper run would almost certainly get easier at every level as paddlers wouldn't be forced to run through the meat of the holes and the entrapment danger would be lower.
See also Chris Bell's Asheville-Area Boating Beta Page.
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Video Podcast about the Cheoah Relicensing
AW's Kevin Colburn and Jeff Paine talk with John Grace of Lunch Video Magazine about the Cheoah relicensing project.
LVMTV :: Monday Morning Madhouse 3/16; American Whitewater's
successes with Cheoah Releases from Lunch Video
Magazine on Vimeo.
The Cheoah River near Bearpen Gap near Tapoco, NC gauge is located at the bridge that marks the beginning of the lower section of the run.
Releases should range from 850 CFS to 1000 CFS but are often higher than the required amounts.
The river can be run at 4.15' / 670 cfs, but I would need at least 800 cfs to be willing to make the two hour drive from Asheville. As reflected in the ratings, the Cheoah gets harder as it rises.
5.0'/1500 cfs is a very exciting, challenging level providing a thrilling ride unlike anything else to be found in the Eastern US.
Levels over 6'/2800 cfs are probably too high for mere mortals on all but the middle section.� These ratings are based on the river's current tree and brush-clogged status.� If at some point some of these trees and brush are removed, easier lines will open up and the penalty for mistakes will be lower.
The upper section is reported to be very dangerous by a group that attempted a run at 6.8'/4000 cfs.
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHEOAH RIVER NR BEARPEN GAP NR TAPOCO, NC | ||||||||||||
| usgs-0351706800 | 400 - 2500 cfs | IV-V | 03h23m | 1010 cfs (rc= 0.3 ) | ||||||||
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| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Put-In |  | |
| 0.5 | First diversion pipe | ||
| 0.7 | Craik's Ledge | III+ |    |
| 2.2 | Joannes Grocery | | |
| 2.9 | The rapid above the pipe | IV | |
| 2.9 | Swinging Bridge Rapid | III+ | |
| 2.9 | Wilma's Ledge aka God's Dam | IV+ | |
| 3.1 | Takeout | IV+ | |
| 3.1 | Takeout/Entrance | | |
| 3.1 | Takeout/First Drop | | |
| 3.5 | Typical Upper Cheoah Scene | IV | |
| 4.5 | Typical Rapid on the Middle Cheoah - Yellow Creek Rapid. | IV | |
| 5.0 | Land of Holes | IV | |
| 6.0 | The deadend pool | I | |
| 6.1 | The easy stuff | III | |
| 7.0 | The Forest Service Bridge |  | |
| 7.1 | Rod's Hole | III | |
| 7.4 | Entrance to Bear Creek Rapid | IV+ | |
| 7.5 | The Falls | IV+ |  |
| 7.5 | Bear Creek Rapid (The Slide) | IV+ | |
| 7.5 | Bear Creek - The left side of the Island. | IV+ | |
| 7.5 | Bear Creek Rapid (The Hole) | 5.0 | |
| 7.6 | Rapids below Bear Creek | IV | |
| 8.4 | Tapoco Lodge Rapid | IV | |
| 8.6 | Yard Sale | IV | |
| 9.0 | The Lake | | |
| 9.2 | Calderwood Boat Ramp |  |
| Cheoah releases | Saturday the 7th | 09:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST | 1000 cfs |
(iCal)
River Alert
State News
River Links
NWRI - Cheoah Santeetlah Dam to Calderwood Lake Boat Launch (mobile)
User Comments
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their playboats, seeing as how it was only Class 4, but I'm pretty sure they all regretted that. It
was a release day, whatever the release level is (@1050 cfs), but the water seemed quite pushy, and
there was carnage, fortunately nothing major, but a few swims and lots of big, wild eyes after
getting pummelled. I narrowly avoided a swimmer--whom I later assisted--in Craik's Hole, the very
first ledge, and it just kept getting harder after that. I felt that it was comparable to the Upper
Youghiogheny at @2.6 (high), except with a big, potentially dangerous waterfall thrown in as a
bonus (I see someone broke his neck there). After the first ledge, I accidentally got too far left
and ended up paddling and poling my way through some small trees---scarier than you would expect! I
had to push through a forest to the right to return to the river. Trying to retrieve someone's boat
as I entered the first hard rapid, I got totally discombobulated, and rolled 2x (I got the boat).
Following someone who knew the river, he led us right into a log strainer on the left side of an
island, a log jam which was open on the right side, lucky for me; another roll. We took the middle
(right of center) line at Bear Creek Falls and got totally buried (surprise!) even in my big
Hercules; one guy made the center-to-right boof. And the last rapid below the bridge seemed quite
big too. I think we pretty much had a consensus that this was solid Class 5, not 4+, even though
most of it is not extremely dangerous. However, watch out for the ledge holes! There are many ledge
hydraulics on this river, and they want you! Great fun, though. I seem to recall that the first 1/4
and the third quarter are pretty moderate, with most of the difficulties being in the second and
fourth quarters of the run. The less hardcore took out at the midstream bridge, foregoing the last
section down to Bear Creek Falls and below. It would have helped to have a good guide, etc., but it
was a great time. Edit
11/1/09 scary huh glad to see you are alright prior report was written on 2/2/09 Edit
Report here: http://americanwhitewater.org/content/Report/detail/id/152458/ or look under pictures
for "Pinned at God's Dam." Edit
insurance. This rating is not accurate. I give the Cheoah a solid V for rafters, and may be a IV+
for experienced Kayakers. If the rapids on the Cheoah are IVs, then we need to change all the Big
5s on the Gauley to 4s as well. Edit
Falls. If it's the same rapid, at the time everybody was calling it "Big'uns." I was running the
line down the far right and flipped about 3/4 of the way down, at a curler-like place just where it
starts to flatten out. I managed to roll up but knew I was hurt. Since then I've heard of a
concussion in the same spot, and a couple of other crashes requiring facial stitches. I've been
told there is not an obvious underwater obstruction at that spot, so it must just be a place where
the wierd force of the flow slams the upside down to river bottom. Breaking your neck sucks; so be
careful. Gary Mims. Edit
release around 6k. The log was in the center of the rapid in the upper portion. The hole described
below the bear creek falls really is not that menacing at release levels, and the west prong line
consists of 3 prominent drops a 6-8ftr, a 4-6ftr and a 2ftr. The first I normally run river left on
the tongue, the second you boof the slot on the right, the third is either the right slot or center
slot. "Rods Hole" doesn't really offer as good of play as described at the normal release levels,
although there is plenty of other good play on the river. Also there is a new take out the forest
service made which was looking pretty nice and one of the girls that works at what was Joannes
Grocery was saying the owner will probably charge for use of the parking lot this coming season. In
addition the whole using the raft the dragon and trying to name one of the rapids the dragon is
pretty lame considering the dragon actually starts in Tennessee, and the fact that many locals hate
the bikers on the dragon due to the accidents they cause and the driving hazard they cause. So as a
piece of advice i think the boating community should stray away from this dragon theme so we can be
portrayed in a more positive light by the community. Edit
rapids below the store) Pipewalk, III+ mile 6.3 God's Dam, IV mile 6.2 Jeff's Wood, Class III
(rapid below God's Dam) Takeout, IV(IV+)mile 6.1 The lines from right to left... The Good, The Bad,
& the Ugly Hancock's Ledge, III+(IV) mile 5.6 Yellow Creek Rapid, III+(IV) mile 5.1 Land of
1000 Holes, IV Mile 4.6 The Dead Sea, mile 3.7 Forest Service Bridge mile 1.9 Rod's Hole, III, mile
1.8 Fear Factor IV+ mile 1.5 (Entrance to Bear Creek Rapid), Bear Creek Falls, IV+ mile 1.1 Tail of
the Dragon(River Right), IV mile 0.7 West Prong Line(River Left), IV+ mile 0.7 Tapoco Lodge Rapid,
IV mile 0.5 Yard Sale,The Holes... (Cupcake, Beefcake,& Shitcake)IV+ mile 0.4 Fugitive, Class
III mile 0.1
being the stuff below the falls.
running 2G and holding (a VERY GOOD LEVEL), there is really no way to access it that i know of
unless you feel like running a 200+ mile shuttle! Call DOT before heading out there. It is possible
you could run part of the River but just not the whole thing...
Check out a photo... Notice the debris on the road that shows that there were several more feet of
water in the river....
http://americanwhitewater.org/photos/?photoid=4103
Kohl comments- Just ran Cheoah with some other first-timers on Saturday, January 26, 2002, at
around six feet, a level we guess that would equate to something like 2,700 cfs (it dropped to
about 5.4 while we were on the river). It was big, pushy and thrilling. The Cheoah is definitely an
instant southeastern whitewater classic. The big ledge and the area immediately downstream on the
right are the only parts that seem to start to get troubling due to the nature of some huge offset
holes. The rapid below Tapoco Lodge (past the bridge) is worth remembering, well-defined lines with
huge hidden holes at five-and-a-half feet. It could definitely go higher than this, but I don't
think any of these rapids will wash out--they'll just create more monster holes. There is one
hazard I'd mention, and that is a set of cables that are in the river just upstream of the power
house (and just downstream of the below-the-bridge rapid). Even though I saw them while in an
upstream eddy, I lost track of one silverish cable and came quite close to it while paddling
downstream. My friend said he saw black cables in the water too. This is quite close to the
upstream IV rapid when the water is up, and a paddler in our group swam just above the cabled
section. Had he not found an eddy, it could have been a scary situation. -Geoff Kohl Scott Hanshaw
comments- Ran it on Sat, Jan 26, 2002. Level was around 5.5 on the USGS gauge. This was an
unbelievable run! This level is higher than the test releases, which made for an incredibly wild
ride, But I can see that at the higher end of the test levels (900+) This would still be a great
run. A group of us paddlers from Arkansas would usually make 4+ trips a summer, out east, to the
Ocoee. We have slowed down some in the last few years because the Ocoee has lost its "zip". If
regularly scheduled releases were set up on this river, I'm certain we would be road tripping
often. At the release levels I'm guessing that the play potential would be excellent. At this level
it was "hang on to your hat and look out for the monster holes". Very Sweet! I will defiantly be
watching the gauges and when it runs again on a weekend I will be loading up for a road trip!
Thanks Keep the rivers flowin' -Scott Hanshaw Don Kinser comments- Ran the Cheoah yesterday at 5.34
feet on the Bear Pen Gauge (CFS not available). It was big. There is no way in hell the section
below the bridge just above the lodge is class 4 at this level. Much more like class 5+. Reminded
me of Pine Creek on the Arkansas. It is big, continuous and unrelenting. Once you went under that
bridge you were committed. The section above from the little store to the bridge was outstanding
and totally continuous. Big waves, big holes, big fun. There were many people on the river and it
had come down to 5.34 feet from almost 7 the day before. Keep up the good work. -Don Kinser
to 1000 cfs. higher flows were NOT compared to the ocoee, they were compared to the Arkansas
Numbers with Pine Creek Rapid at the bottom, like the Lower 5 of the North Fork of the Payette, and
like a continuous Lochsa. Even the lower flows were awesome and challenging and aesthetic. The
water was clear/blue, the air was 60-70 degrees, the locals were curious and enjoyable to chat
with, and the river was incomparable. There is nothing like it left in the Southeast, It is
Incredible.