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Description
This is the most remote wild run in Alabama. Set in a white limestone gorge ,featuring large clean bedrock drops this run is very different from the normal sandrock knarl common in Alabama.
After a bit of a hike in you start on a small shallow creek that quickly channelizes and steepens up into a section of nice class IV falls and slides. They get progressively larger until you get to an very serious pothole falls that is at the head of a short a box canyon that feeds into a larger falls that cascades out into a huge ampitheatre. The pothole falls requires a rappel to portage into the bow canyon.there is another bit of rope work required to clear the Ampitheatre Falls \[this falls is likely runnable,looks like the first drop of Stairway to Heaven into a low angle 100 yard run-out \].
Below here several more decent drops down to the confluence with Hurricane Creek. We hiked out via a new hiking trail built by the Nature Conservancy to a parking lot at the rim, 2.5 miles up a good switched back trail. Some groups have paddled on down the Paint Rock to the first bridge \[about 4 miles\]. This is the better option since if this is running the Paint Rock will be close to flooded and moving fast. The Nature Conservancy has bought this entire gorge and has built horse and hiking trails and put in a nice parking area on the rim.
Drainage area at put in: 1.53 square miles