Clear Fork, North Prong, Tennessee, US
|
|
1. Old Sunbright to Banner Springs
| Usual Difficulty |
III-IV (for normal flows) |
River Description
I have only run this 2x at very low water, so conditions may be very different at medium to high
water.
This is a 4-5 mile run with the middle 2-3 miles non-stop class III with at least two III+ - IV.
There are at least 2 triple-drop rapids of 3-4-3 feet. There are about 10 additional class III
rapids. The final rapid, locals call it "The Falls," is a 7-foot clean slot drop into a
beautiful large pool. The most serious rapid is about 1/2 way down and follows a s-curve pool
with logjams at each end of the pool. Go around the final logjam & the rapid begins. It is a
very tight triple drop with micro-pools between drops that may require going off each drop
sideways to keep from pinning at medium to high water. (I call it Cramma, Jamma, Slama.)
Biggest danger on this river is the 15 - 18 riverwide logjams/beaver dams. Most of these are not
in the whitewater section and are easy to portage (20-30 paces out of your boat), but some are at
the end of rapids. Scout everything you can not see for logjams.
The takeout is 200 yds uphill with a 5-mile shuttle.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2010-11-08 23:28:11
No photos found. 
reach
User Comments
feel it's just not worth another run. I feel I must have crossed or went under 50 trees...many of
which I had to portage. There were a few class 3-4 drops though. Some included undercuts and
sieves. It took me almost 5 hours to run this river. I'd look for something else to run.