Put-in: Jacks River Trail parking lot located on the Jacks River 0.2 miles upstream of the Jacks/Conasauga confluence and immediately upstream of the FS bridge.
put-in: 34.9878, -84.63326
put-in elevation: 949'
Take out: Mile 10.1 (US 411): the State of Tennessee owns 100' of river-right streambank immediately downstream of US 411.
take out: 35.0099, -84.7340
take out elevation: 761'
The following intermediate access points have been used in the past and may or may not afford access presently.
#1) at Mile 6.3 (as in, 6.3 miles from the put-in): on undeveloped privately-owned land that appears to get a healthy amount of respectful trespass. Access here is appealing because the corridor transitions here from USFS forest to private, developed land. Also because the gradient peters out.
m6.3 take-out lat: 35.0044
m6.3 take-out long: -84.6940
m6.3 take-out elevation: 787'
There is a one-tenth-mile-long trail from the road to the m6.3 take-out. Limited shoulder parking and trailhead are located at lat/long: 35.0062,-84.6943.
#2) at Mile 9.1: where Ball Play Rd snugs up against the river.
m9.1 take-out lat: 35.01077
m9.1 take-out long: -84.72195
m9.1 take-out elevation: 768'
OVERALL DESCRIPTION OF THE RUN
Beautiful class II run through the Cherokee National Forest with exceptionally clean water draining out of the Cohutta Wilderness.
Looking at the gradient by mile \[fpm: 38,34,30,27,23,20,16,12,9,7\] you can see how it starts out with a bang and progressively flattens along the way.
For the first six miles, the river runs through undeveloped National Forest with an average gradient of 28fpm. There are two significant rapids in the first mile and a half that merit a II+ rating for their overall drop and fairly technical maneuvering (or, rock banging...take your pick). More Class I-II rapids occur frequently throughout the first six miles. Below that, the remaining four miles are comparatively flat (~10fpm) and populated with houses and farms.
FLOWS
Like its big sister, the Upper Conasauga, this section doesn't run often. USGS 2384500 'CONASAUGA RIVER AT GA 286, NEAR ETON, GA' is the primary gauge but it leaves a lot to be desired. It's located 24 miles downstream and lags this run by nearly half a day. A sustained level of 5' is minimum. 6'--if it's sustained, not flashing--is good. Typically, the Eton gauge has spiked to 12' or more prior to a day or two of boatable flows.
The bridge gauge (located 34.9746, 84.6449,
content/Photo/detail/photoid/9397) one mile upstream of the put-in does a good job of indicating flows in the run. 0'4' is comfortably above minimum. Also, just as with the Upper Conasauga, two other telemetry gauges in the watershed (2384540 USGS Mill Ck, 2385800 USGS Holly near Chatsworth) are important for judging when to go and when to stay home. I look for Mill Ck to exceed 40cfs and Holly to exceed 100cfs.