Chattooga, |
|
| Usual Difficulty | II-IV+ (may vary with level) |
|---|---|
| Length | 5.2 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 60 fpm |
| Max Gradient | 117 fpm |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHATTOOGA RIVER NEAR CLAYTON, GA | ||||
| usgs-02177000 | 0.90 - 2.50 ft | II-IV+ | 01h18m | 2.38 ft (rc= 0.9 ) |
Gauge Description: NOTE: The online gauge above reads differently than the paddler's gauge on the
US 76 Bridge. Most paddlers refer to the bridge gauge. The online gauge reads about .15 higher
than the bridge gauge at 2 feet, about .25 higher below two feet and the same at about 2.8 feet.
It can be run down to .5 or even lower but is very scrapy. Above 2.0' Five Falls starts to bump
up to class 5. It can certainly be run above 2.2', but only by experienced Section 4 paddlers.
The Five Falls section gets much more difficult and dangerous at high water. Highest known run
was August 17, 1994 at something between 9 and 10 feet from below Woodall to the Lake. According
to USGS the river peaked at 17,500 cfs. Participants included Russ Kulmar, John Lesan, "Snuffy"
Hall, Kent Wiginton, and Richard Oldenquist.
This is the Southeastern Classic! More legends exist about Five Falls of the Chattooga
than almost any other set of rapids. Taken individually any of the 5 rapids of Five Falls would
be significant named drops on any typical Southeastern river. They are far from the hair found on
steep creeks and the legendary danger associated with these rapids arises in part from the long
history of boating the Chattooga (40+ years). That said, approach these rapids with caution as
they have killed and injured plenty of boaters.
This is the river where a portion of the classic 1972 movie Deliverance was filmed.
The Chattooga became a National Wild and Scenic River July 1, 1976.
An Important note about Crack in the Rock rapid.
Most of the existing guidebooks in print still recommend right crack as the prefered route. This
is no longer the case. A flood back around 1998 blew the original log out of the crack.
Since then right crack has become an undercut boulder sieve. Boats and boaters
have washed under the logs and rocks in right crack. On November 9, 2003 it was the sight of a
fatality. Any swim out of Corkscrew should be taken seriously. Left Crack has been the sight of
numerous fatalities and right crack is possibly more dangerous. If you swim get to the bank
quickly and do not swim into Crack in the Rock. Do nothing that involves hysteria, just swim to
the bank.
Most boaters run Crack below 2 feet thru middle crack. Use your good judgement here. Running left
crack when it has water flowing over the top is an easy move but do not get flipped at the top or
you could get hurt or pinned. Middle crack sometimes has debris. Far right crack is a blind rapid
at high water and can accumulate debris. There is even a route over the right side of right crack
if you are really careful.
The good news is that the rapid can be portaged on both banks.
Crack changes more than any rapid on the river. Debris in the underwater sieve can change the
pool height upstream of the drop and change the nature of the rapid. Center crack changed
recently (2005) and is now about a 2 foot tall pourover that can backender kayaks between the two
boulders.
Finally, just remember that most of the large rocks in Five Falls are undercut.
The put-in for this section of the river is located where US 76 crosses the river about 8 miles east of Clayton GA near Long Creek, SC and forms the Georgia-South Carolina state line.
There are parking areas on both the Georgia and South Carolina side of the river.
On the Georgia side you will find a small parking area ($2.00 fee) for hikers that holds about 5
cars. You can put in here with a short walk down to the river. The walk is alittle shorter than
the paved road to the beach below Bull Sluice or the trail to that rapids. However if you put in
here you miss Bull Sluice rapid.
There is a large USFS parking lot on the SC side of the river with changing rooms and bathrooms
and with no parking fee. Follow the paved path about 250 yards to thebeach below Bull Sluice or
take the trail off to the right and put in right above Bull Sluice. Boaters sometimes access this
river via Stekoa Creek.
Stekoa Creek.
To get to the take-out:
From the put-in, head left out of the parking lot (east) for about 2.5 miles or so and turn right
on Orchard Road. Follow Orchard Road until it dead ends on Battle Creek Road (across from the
Dixie Aluminum plant). Turn right on Battle Creek. Stay on Battle Creek, you will come to a sharp
right turn in the road, stay on the paved road. You are now on Damascus Church Road. Just past
the little white church on the left, bear right onto Bull Sluice Road. This is a dirt road and
you will see a sign for the Tugaloo Boat Ramp. Follow this dirt road all the way to the end and
park at the boat ramp. Round trip is about 45 minutes. There are other access points such as
Tugaloo Dam, Possum Creek, and Camp Creek but most of these are excessively strenuous.
At the put-in don't forget to fill out the self registration forms.
Other links:
See also Section 3.
It can be run down to .5 or even lower but is very scrapy.
Above 2.0' Five Falls starts to bump up to class 5.
It can certainly be run above 2.2', but only by experienced Section 4 paddlers. The Five Falls section gets much more difficult and dangerous at high water.
Highest known run was August 17, 1994 at something between 9 and 10 feet from below Woodall to the Lake. According to USGS the river peaked at 17,500 cfs. Participants included Russ Kulmar, John Lesan, "Snuffy" Hall, Kent Wiginton, and Richard Oldenquist.
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHATTOOGA RIVER NEAR CLAYTON, GA | ||||||||||||
| usgs-02177000 | 0.90 - 2.50 ft | II-IV+ | 01h18m | 2.38 ft (rc= 0.9 ) | ||||||||
|
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| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Bull Sluice | IV+ |   |
| 0.2 | Surf Rapid | III |  |
| 0.4 | Screaming Left Turn | III | |
| 0.9 | Rock Jumble | III | |
| 2.0 | Woodall Shoals |    | |
| 2.2 | The playspot above 7 foot | III+ | |
| 2.3 | 7 Foot Falls | IV | |
| 2.8 | Beaver Skull | II+ | |
| 3.0 | Stekoa Creek Rapid | III+ | |
| 3.5 | Long Creek Falls Rapid and Playspot | III | |
| 3.6 | Deliverance Rock | III+ | |
| 3.8 | Turtle Head Rock | II+ | |
| 4.0 | Ravens Chute | III+ | |
| 4.1 | Tunnel of Love | II+ | |
| 4.2 | the rapid after Raven Chute | III | |
| 4.5 | Little Woodall | III+ | |
| 5.0 | Camp Creek | | |
| 5.1 | Five Falls | ||
| 5.1 | Entrance | IV | |
| 5.1 | Corkscrew | IV+ | |
| 5.1 | Crack in the Rock | IV | |
| 5.1 | Jawbone | IV+ | |
| 5.2 | Sock em Dog | IV+ | |
| 5.3 | Shoulderbone | IV | |
| 5.6 | Quaalude | III | |
| 6.0 | Lake Tugaloo |
Most boaters run thru middle crack. Left crack does get run on occasion, but is usually avoided.
The good news is that the rapid can be portaged on both banks.
Running the slot on the right side of shoulderbone rock has been done but its a bad idea. The slot is undercut and usually full of wood. There are potholes or sieves in the base of the drop that have swallowed boats and boaters for uncomfortably long periods of time.
Report covering the recreation users, use, economic impacts, and economic benefits of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River.
Letters in opposition of paddling on the Chattooga from Paul Broun, Robin Hayes and J. Gresham Barrett - Congressional Representatives
River Alert
State News
State News
River Links
NWRI - Chattooga Section 4 - Route 76 Bridge to Tugaloo Lake Boat Ramp (mobile)
User Comments
pretty easy to see, but thought I'd give a heads up Edit
log but inadvertently added a hook and a decent chunk of line to the mess. I am hearing this third
party but thought a warning should be posted if one hadn't been. So take a second if you can...
scope it out or walk it. HAPPY FALL PADDLING Yes there is a log and grappling hook and a bunch of
rope in sock'm dog. (thanks NOC!) Edit
ran everything fine until we got to crack in the rock. The right and left cracks were too low to
run, so we planned to go down the middle until when I paddled over there there was a large log
blocking the way. We had to portage to the left on a rock and get back in but it was difficult
because there was no banks so I threw my boat in and then I jumped in the river and climbed back in
my inflatable kayak. I would try to get out on the river right though before I resulted to getting
out on the left. Lots of scrappy shoals at this level. Edit
from the river. Good times all in all. At 1.05 it is much easier cause you dont fall sideways on a
rock and fall off of it. Rolling in rock Jumble stole my paddle. Found it when it wiggled loose a
minute later. Rolling in rock jumble HAHA right if you like the taste of granite.
know nothing about the area. Yeah, we plan to "man up" and really get after it with each other. We
were gonna spend a couple days in charlottee and then go rn secs 3 and 4 of this river. Edit
no telling once again what may be in there. Edit
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/fms/forest/recreation/chattooga.shtml Edit
from right crack appeared in far right crack and was kinda ugly; since then, however, the big log
has washed out of far right crack and deposited itself in some rocks above jawbone--actually not a
bad place for it. there are still some smaller logs in far right. i'll post some pics later in the
week.
Tallulah and Chattooga before the erection of the Tugalo Dam. It's got some niche ole photos of
rapids which used to exist, some 80+ years ago. (Sniff...)
Thanks to "Gomer" at BT for pointing out that great article!
fixing this glitch. Meanwhile, this handy table can help you make sense of the reading from above:
flow (cfs) stage (ft) 240 1.2 300 1.3 350 1.4 420 1.5 490 1.6 570 1.7 650 1.8 740 1.9 840 2.0 940
2.1 1040 2.2 1160 2.3 1280 2.4 1400 2.5 1550 2.6
July 1, 1976 was the first day that it was illegal to boat aboe the highway 28 bridge.
Yes a new bridge is being built. However the existing paddler's gauge will be preserved, at least
that is the plan at this point.
Forum: BoaterTalk
Re: right crack at chattooga by tarheel123 Nov 10 2003, 23:29 GMT New
Date: Nov 10 2003, 23:45 GMT
From: GA_CREEKER
I went scuba diving at Crack a number of years ago and went all around right/middle and left crack.
The two rocks almost touch at the top of right crack. A large log (there used to be two) goes from
the bottom of the river and is wedged in the top crease. The smaller logs/branches have collected
horizontally like a beaver dam to seal most of the opening. No significant water went around the
river right of the log but a lot of water goes around the left and under the big rock in the center
of the rapid. This rock is undercut/overhanging just below the water surface and you can go back
5-7 ft from the downstream face. A good number of boats have gone through the passage but a body
may have a higher likelyhood of snagging on one of the many branches forming the dam. I suspect
that if the log ever rots/washes out the entire river would go through this slot and you would
paddle under the rocks you go over now like a bridge.
Aside, you can walk into left crack and go under the rock between left and center crack and sit and
watch the bubbles of center crack go by on one side (a 3x5 ft window) and the bubbles of left crack
go by on the other side.
If a boater is ever stuck in left crack you need to push their shoulders/arms back into the drop
until the water catches their torso. They will then wash under the pinning rock and free from the
rapid. I've worked a recovery here and you cannot pull someone against the force of the water.
There is lots of room under the pin rock (5-6 ft), which is why kayaks pin there so bad. Also a
canoe or raft can be broached across the top of the drop significantly reducing the amount of water
going through the drop.
Not good play on section IV......good play on section III??????? Allow me to list out SOME of the
playspots on section IV (level dependent):
1: Surfing Rapid
2: Hole above 7 ft.
3: Hole RIGHT above seven foot(not for the timid..better at
lower levels)
4: Pourover below little 7ft....can wheel on both sides
5: Surfing wave at bottom of Stekoa rapid
5: Long Creek hole
6: Turtlehead rock
7: Splatwheel rock at turtlehead (sliding splatwheel)
8: Wheelin' rock below Raven's chute
9: Splatwheel right below this one
10: Another sweet splatwheel spot..hard to describe where
11: Little Woodall....again not for the timid
12: Hole in slot above Crack..need a 100% roll for this one
one of my favorites lately
13: Quelude
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Lots of fun eddy lines and smaller waves and holes. Only take
a creekboat if you're not going to play, or if you feel you need the extra confidence it'll give
you. If you're a solid boater and plan on playing, you can have LOTS of fun on Section IV. There
aren't ANY really fun playspots on Section III until the water gets above 2.5 ish. I do, however,
agree a creekboat will feel better at the lake.
1.55 bridge = 1.7 USGS.
1.45 bridge = 1.6 USGS as of April 2002.