Sign in to generate an AI timing estimate for this run.
Whitewater timing varies with scouting, portages, and group pace. Use as a planning baseline.
Description
This is a great beginner/novice run and would still be fun for intermediate level paddlers. It has more rapids and overall gradient than the more popular downstream section, but is less difficult than a couple of rapids there. Although the rapids are not difficult, it is a narrow stream with several sections with multiple channels, so be cautious of wood throughout. Paul Ferguson has this as section 1 in Paddling Eastern North Carolina, starting at Gooch's Mill Rd, but if you manage to find parking along Old 75, this is where you'll want to start for rapids. There is a heavier rapid just as you pass Belltown Rd and again under I-85, but nothing goes over class II. We ran this with 7 ft on the USGS gage at Tar River and didn't feel like it would be too much for a novice challenge wise, so it's a great option for those who would otherwise be waiting for the more popular rivers to drop after a heavy rain. Any surfing needs to be caught on the fly as there are not many eddies other than a busted dam with a mellow drop about 3/4 of the way through the run.