Guest, Virginia, US

USFS recreation area (Rt. 72) to Clinch River -- Guest River Gorge

Usual Difficulty	IV-V (for normal flows)
Length	8 Miles
Avg. Gradient	100 fpm

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
POWELL RIVER AT BIG STONE GAP, VA
usgs-03529500	250 - 1000 cfs	IV-V	00h44m	297 cfs (rc= 0.1 )

River Description

The Guest River begins as a pastoral meandering stream until it reaches the vicinity of Coeburn, VA. Then the proverbial bottom drops out and the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" takes on a whole new meaning.
This creek is fairly boat scoutable at most sane levels, once the gauge goes over 3' this run takes on a new persona.
As always on tight runs like this, be alert for wood in unusual places.

Some of the bigger rapids are (in order of encounter)
--Pile of Rocks-- Recognized by a large angular rock.
--Hard Right--River makes said move in front of BIG boulder.
--Screwball-- Don't screw this one up, because it washes into Ski Jump.
--Ski Jump-- Run this one LEFT or MIDDLE, by all means DON'T GO RIGHT!
--Toilet Bowl (aka Hell's Kitchen)--
This drop is easily recognized from upstream by the orange flagging ribbon and old "road construction" sign tied to a tree at the entry to Hell's Kitchen. (SK note: post 3/2002 flood the "road construction" sign is no longer on the tree. Just the orange flagging ribbon.)Scout this entire stretch before committing yourself and your friends. This section harbors some of the most severe consequences on the entire river. Undercut walls, rocks, pinning spots just to name a few. This also leads you into one of the most gnarly drops on the Guest, Toilet Bowl. When running the Kitchen around the island, the ideal line is RR or RL. The RL line is dubbed Frequent Flyer, it is a nice 5ft boof. The ledge that creates the drop is undercut, so the hole has potential to get nasty.
--Toilet Bowl--
The main dangers in the "Toilet Bowl" are the HOUSE sized undercuts that block almost the entire flow of the river and the HUGE sieve on RL. You can decide if you want to dance with the devil on this one.
Some other "big" rapids are:
--Alleyway-- Just downstream of Toilet Bowl. Can be ran in the alley or right.
--Trainwreck--A short ways down from Alleyway.
The river continues along its course over, around, under, and through boulders until just before its confluence with the Clinch river. From here, it is an "easy" (boring, flat, slow) 2 mile paddle to the Dungannon Public River Access take out.

If you are thinking of running the Guest, find someone who has run the river before or take advantage of the trail along the run. Bring the MTB up one weekend and ride the trail while you scout the drops. Then come back in the future with the creek boat!

Local paddlers provide some insight into the lumber situation on the Guest in the comments section below.......