Cartoogechaye,

Mount Hope Church to Louisa Chapel Road

Usual Difficulty	II(III) (may vary with level)
Length	2.75 Miles
Avg. Gradient	30 fpm

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
CARTOOGECHAYE CREEK NEAR FRANKLIN, NC
usgs-03500240	1.80 - 5.00 ft	II(III)	03h40m	2.62 ft (rc= 0.3 )

River Description

This is a short run consisting of only a coupe rock gardens and a 4ft dam that the town of Franklin gets it's water from. The dam has to be run, there's no sneak around it. Watch out for wood below the dam through the rock gardens.

Pretty fun for the locals and that's about it.



From the put-in below the bridge behind Mt Hope Church you will paddle over some small ledges (1-2ft). This is a really calm stretch good practice for beginners in eddy turning and peeling out. The stream meanders through roderdendren and residental areas before it gets to the Macon County Industrial Park.



From here start to be on the look out for the Franklin Water Plant on the left and the 4ft dam. The dam as rocks put in place on the left side to divert all of the water over the dam. Get up some speed and go a little right of center where it's the deepest. There is concrete poured below that blows everything out so it's not like most dams. Below the dam there is a nice rock garden that begins under the Rock Quarry bridge. Don't flip though cause it's really shallow and the rocks are sharp. If you do flip you won't be able to roll up so just swim, much easier on your body.



There is another technical rock garden .25 miles above the take-out that's much the same as the one at the Rock Quarry. Don't swim!



As with all small streams be on the look out for wood. There was at least one tree that crossed the entire river, but at below 2.5ft you should be able to get under it, no problem. Also, the stream is very shallow, and mostly sand with a few rocks scattered about, so it's pretty user friendly for the beginner. Ie. push off the bottom if you're upside down and can't roll.