Class II.4
Coal Creek, not to be confused with Coal Bank, which is over in the Sequatchie Valley; and is much harder than the Coal Creek that is described in this write-up. Coal Creek is a diminutive creek in nature. It’s small and is part of the headwaters for Upper White’s Creek. By paddling Coal Creek you can add more mileage to your Upper White’s Creek paddle, or you can have some solo paddling fun with just Coal Creek with your own (solo)set shuttle.
I noticed Coal Creek of all things while house hunting in the area, there were two houses in two different locations on the creek.(Which I’m against but made scouting easy thanks to the real estate agent being our “probe” and got us past the no trespassing signs ) One house was near the creek, at the put-in, well to be honest the creek looked way too small, to paddle and I wrote it off but later after looking at another house that was on the creek downstream, it looked good to go, and it opened up right after Hwy 68.Looks can be deceiving.
I’ll say it again…it makes me sick seeing houses being built right on the creeks, and then of all things knocking down trees so they can have “a yard” in the middle of the woods…I don’t get it…anyway…back at the ranch.
Gameplan:
Okay here is a game plan you can use if you want some quality time on a creek, and want to solo it ( I cannot recommend paddling solo, it’s dangerous and stupid but we paddle for different reasons) The shuttle is really short. Because Coal Creek loops back on itself, and makes a half circle while heading towards Upper White’s Creek. It comes as close as a creek can to having the same put-in and take-out.
The Shuttle:
The shuttle can be set with a mountain bike or just plain walked with plenty of time to spare for lazy paddler (namely me). It’s less than a mile of shuttling and almost 2 miles of paddling You will leave your car or boat, depending how you want to do your shuttle. On Old Grandview Road, it is the second Old Grandview sign leaving Spring City, or the first Old Grandview Road sign if you are coming from Crossville and are right off Hwy 68.
Here is the sign to look for
Then look for the power lines to walk up with your boat. This will be your take-out, or you can use the New Highway 68 Bridge, and it’s your call for that part. From here get back on Highway 68, and head towards to Crossville, Tennessee. You have two options one is to find this turn on the left; it is right off Highway 68. And go down this abandoned road to an old concrete bridge.
Here is a picture of the turn that is right past Old Grandview Road
Your second option is to go a little further and turn left (coming from Spring City) on Coal Creek road and follow it to the creek. It takes you down the same abandoned road/bridge, and it’s the other side of the abandoned bridge that is old Hwy 68.
Here is a picture of the sign where you turn and it takes you to Coal Creek…the sign is pretty accurate huh. Wonder where it goes?
Your paddle, in the beginning is very diminutive, and once you get past Hwy 68 you will paddle by a set of 3 houses on the river left side of the creek. After this the creek begins to take on its own personality and opens up and the paddle takes on a sense of remoteness now that you just left the houses. You will encounter more laurel and rhododendron, and Class II rapids, look for trees, there are some you will have to portage. The paddle is worth it just for the sense of being in a remote Smokey Mountain setting. You need water at the beginning and it needs to be padded, because around the corner after Hwy 68 the creek spreads out.
Looks can be deceiving right after this the creek opens up and becomes a "real" creek
Once you hit Upper White’s Creek, you can continue to stay on White’s or head upstream and fight gravity by going old school and hitting attainment moves, (I prefer a long boat for this trip), you will have to carry up twice. This provides and excellent cardio workout without being epic. Once you see the power lines, this will be your take-out.
