Barrelville to Wills Creek

This is one of the few creeks for which you should ignore Gertler's description because it has been transformed since he ran it. The rapids are pretty continuous, and a few of them reach class III+. Stop and scout when you reach a big ledge, a little more than midway. Even at moderate levels, the hole at the bottom of the central tongue can be sticky, so you might want to stay near the right side of the creek instead. The gradient finally eases up in the final mile. On my three runs, we never encountered any creek-wide strainers, but that could change, of course. One could also start 2 miles higher up, at Mt. Savage (put in by the Volunteer Fire Department), with 115 ft/mile gradient, and get a nice 5-mile run.  That needs somewhat more water, but is otherwise probably pretty similar (I have run the second mile of this part, but not the first).  Check for strainers from the road near the start. Ed Evangelidi testifies: This creek has suffered much past abuse but recent improvements have removed sewage, strainers and other man made trash. Just the nice rapids remain for your enjoyment. Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone.