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Warren Creek
Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee
6 Miles
Putting in at the waterfall is a 2.7 mile paddle on Warren to Cole City Creek.
Then, you have 1.2 miles on Cole City to the takeout. 3.9 total miles.
Avg Gradient 150 fpm
Max Gradient 360 fpm
Warren drops 590 feet from the waterfall to Cole City Creek. Cole City drops
another 100 feet to the takeout. Class IV.8
River Quality (1 bad 3 good)
Scenery (1 bad 3 good) 
Details of this run were provided by Jeff
West:
Jeff West firing it up on the 40+ footer
Photo by Bett Adams
Maps:
Watershed Map (to find location and size of creek)
Click Here
Georgia Watershed Map Special thanks to Steve Zerfeos for making the map.
Topo Map:
Click Here A special thanks to Randy Hale of NorthRiverGeographic
for the map Level Needed:
Look for 3 inches of rain during a 12 hour window for this creek to run. Bear
needs to be around 30 inches.
Take-Out:
The takeout is the metal bridge over Cole City. The road is clearly marked as private property past this point.
Put-in :
Its best to hike in.
The put-in is very easy. When you come to the sharp right turn on 259 turn left onto a gravel driveway. Follow the driveway to where the driveway passes under a large power line. Park beside the driveway under the power cables. Ask permission at the house to park. Then walk .3 miles along the power lines downhill to the waterfall. To portage the waterfall carry upstream and then ferry to the river left. There is a nice portage trail around the waterfall on the river left
Directions :
Move you mouse around on the map to see everything or click on the link below the map. The put in you show is slightly off. Where 259 turns sharply to the right the driveway to the put in turns to the left. If you find where the driveway passes under the power lines on the map that is the put in. Paddlers must ask permission from the owner!
View Larger Map
Paddler Jeff West the mad scientist and the white rat
picking his line.
Photo by Bett Adams
River Description
Warren Creek is a lesson in Geology and Geography.We didn't know where to
place this creek in the WaldensRidge section or the Lookout Mountain Section.
Well its closer to Lookout and kinda sorta is...so Lookout Mountain it is!
You also get to paddle Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee all in one run!
Okay the creek.
Wow where do you start? Its been looked at for years, trees cut out then it
dries up. Trees fall again and its lost to the next generation due to it not
being near the cool guy runs and it needs big rain events.
It's dirty creekin : ) It has sieves, big drops, caves and real man
portages . Its mank will remind you more of the
Sequatchie Valley runs just
across the Tennessee River.
There
is only one rapid worth doing upstream of the Falls. A nice 10 footer. Below
the waterfall the creek has the same feel as Big Creek or the West Prong, except
a bit more manky. The rapids seem class V as you fly into them, but when you
eddy out and look back up they are class IV. There are still a few trees that
require portages. Not far below the waterfall you'll find a solid class V rapid
with a sketch undercut house sized boulder at the bottom.
Warren
is a great run for when everything is blown out. The waterfall is as good as a
40 footer gets.
You also get to paddle Cole City Creek. Cole City is nothing to write home
about so it lets you off the hook once you reach where Warren and Cole City meet
up.
A big
thanks to Mark D'agostino and Brian McAnnally for cleaning out the trees. I saw
at least 40 major trees that had been cut out. Before they cleaned it up, Warren
was considered forever un-runnable.
Jeff West nailing his line on a First Descent on the falls.
Photo by Bett Adams
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