North Pacolet, North Carolina, US

Pearsons Falls along Hwy 176 to Tryon

Usual Difficulty	IV-V (for normal flows)
Length	4 Miles

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
DAVIDSON RIVER NEAR BREVARD, NC
usgs-03441000	400 - 5000 cfs	IV-V	00h28m	127 cfs (rc= -0.1 )

River Description

The North Pacolet is an odd run. From what most boaters can see from the road the creek is not terribly exciting. Don't be fooled, because almost all of the big drops are hidden from the road. Almost every turn on the road or place that is blocked by trees has a good sized rapid.
The put in for the run is almost across from the Pearsons Falls private park. I would suggest parking along the dirt road where you are not in anyone's way.
All of the rapids can be run on this river but there are some very scary undercuts and you are almost guaranteed to see some strainers.
Long ago in the dark ages of boating when we all had 10 foot kayaks or C-1's I ran this creek and had a nasty vertical pin in one of the rapids near the top of the run. The rapid was a double drop and I can imagine that in a short boat the pin could be much worse.
The most dangerous and largest rapid is downstream of the bridge.