Panther Creek, Tennessee, US

to Abrams Creek at Hwy 129

Usual Difficulty	II-IV(V) (for normal flows)
Length	1 Miles
Avg. Gradient	200 fpm
Max Gradient	265 fpm

River Description

It was fun to do once, but I don't know about again.

The last half mile down to the lake is non stop class 3-3+ action with a good 6 foot boof. However, there were a few 4+ drops that were quality. One had a nasty sieve at the bottom, though the drop itself was clean. Kinda like a slightly smaller version of bowdown on Jones. Then there was a 4 foot boof onto a ridge shelf that wanted to throw you right into a wall. Above those though, was a sweet 20 foot drop. There was a big boof leading in, and then I had to hit a strong ferry to the right to avoid landing in a crack in the rocks on the left. Then I straightened out, bounced down the cascade and then boofed the last 10 feet landing sideways so as to not hit the other side. If you didn't land sideways you could definitely end up broken. That one was class 5 for sure.

There is a 30 footer another 2 miles upstream of where we started that kinda looks runnable, but much work to get there. Maybe for another day. It's the perfect 'got skunked around Santeetlah lake area' salvage run. Look for waterfalls coming in all around you on the drive home. Parson's branch should have good water, and we did Twenty Mile Creek that day for your reference. If you are coming home 129 to Knoxville, you literally pull off and park, then paddle 0.75 miles up to the mouth, and then hike up. We probably hiked 0.75 miles. It flattens out above there for a while, then the 30 footer, then more flats, and then at the top of the watershed it gets steep again, but is probably choked full of wood and super micro. There is an option of putting on at Parson's Branch road.