French Broad, Tennessee, US

Del Rio to Bridgeport Market

Usual Difficulty	I-II(III) (for normal flows)
Length	8.5 Miles
Avg. Gradient	10 fpm
Max Gradient	40 fpm

River Description

This is a very good beginner / intermediate run. The first obstacle that you will encounter is a two to four foot fall depending on the water level. This fall can be portaged on river right. If you plan to run the fall I highly recommend that you scout it. Watch out for the hydraulic at higher water levels. I usually run it on river right.

The next three to four miles have a couple of small ledges and some small rapids.

The best rapid on the run is the Milky Way. The river narrows down in this area, and although it looks like you can get through on river right you can't. It is 75 to 100 yards of three to four foot waves. The most fun way to run it is right through the middle. Watch out for rocks on river left at the end of the rapid!

There are a couple of other small rapids after that but they are easy class 1+, 2's.

Be sure to check out the take out when you leave your car at Bridgeport Market. Walk down to the river if you haven't made this run before because the take out is easy to miss. To get to the put in drive up Hwy. 25/70 to Hwy. 107 and turn right. Then in the curve go to the right onto the gravel road. You can park there and walk across the bridge then get to the water under the railroad bridge.

The coordinates are just a close guess, as close as I could get using the Topo Map web site.