There is a gauge painted on the bridge piling at the Piney Takeout. The Min. is 2.5". A new gauge will be installed this summer after the TDOT replaces the present bridge.
River Description
Gauge: Painted on upstream side of Shut-In Gap Road
Minimum 2.5 (E.L.F)- Max- ????
Runnable: Nov-March (May if we have been lucky) also with Hurricane events
Suitable for canoes and kayaks
Great water quality and scenery
Class III.5 (IV-)*
Gradient AVG. 73 max 120
Shuttle:
There are two put-in options for the Piney, and a good camp fire debate of which one is better. I always wanted to attempt a shuttle race to prove which way is best. Driver's start your engines....
Put-in:
Option 1: (New School)
The best is to drive up the hill from the take-out to the top of Walden's Ridge. Using your topo map or gazetteer locate Moccasin creek. It should be the third stream you will cross. This is the easy put-in.
Ed Note:
I have heard more than one mess up on using Moccasin creek as a put-in, lost drivers, wrong put-in , p*ssed off locals etc. and both options are a long shuttle, and I prefer option 2, It's easier on the driver and car but only those with slightly below average map reading skills too!. So go to Option # 2 I posted Option 1 after alot of emails if you want Moccasin Please go to Option 2 and let me make it easy.
Option 2: Click Here (And it's one I use every time)
Option 3:(Old School)
The other put-in is on the Piney. This involves driving back to Spring City, then getting back on Highway 27 to Dayton. From there you drive almost all the way back to Dayton while looking for an obscure road in Evensville, which is halfway between Spring City and Dayton (Evensville is an unincorporated town right past the Rhea County High School, your signpost to turnoff Hwy 27 is a junkyard on the right side of the road heading toward Dayton) the name of the road is Liberty Hill Road and is on page 41 of the Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer. The road will take you back to the top of Walden's ridge. When you get to the top of the ridge keep bearing right for about 10 +/-miles. (Your signpost here is a "Y" in the road and nearby are some cell towers, bear right young man) The name of this road is Wash Pelfrey Road.The first stream you cross will be the piney. Parking here is good. There is a gauge on the downstream river left side.
"In the winter of 2000 the upper stretch of the Piney to the confluence with Moccasin creek was choked with lots of downed trees. With a lot of strainers "Two major floods have hit the Piney since 2000 and these should be gone.
Here is a picture of the Piney Put-in , we have a picture here, in the Spring of 2008, someone took a wrong turn and put-on Henderson Creek, if this doesn't look like the Piney put-in when you get there you are at the wrong place.
Picture of the Piney Put-in
Take-out:
The take-out is located just outside Spring City Tn, and is located on Shut-in Gap Road, the road will cross at a bridge, and to river left , downstream of the bridge will be a confluence of the Stinging Fork-Soak Creek run. The part is also a nice place to park your car and go on a day hike, the area abounds with nice and FREE hiking trails.
History:
I do not know who got the first D on the Piney, but I do know that Open boater Paul Pruitt was the local expert on the run in the 80's when no one hardly knew the shuttle there ;let alone the run, and he gets a lot of credit for opening the run, he and his gang helped name the rapids and lead others down when it was still considered a tough run. Mirages, and Dancers, wool tops and ninety degree paddles, and anyone with a roll was an Expert and was the norm.
Local Issues:
The Piney is located in Rhea County, Tennessee which is pretty conservative. Get dressed at the take-out, and put on quick. No one wants to hear loud music, or see a bunch of naked out-of-towners having a good time. Common Sense should be prudent.
River level Beta:**
HERE IS THE INTERNET GAUGE CLICK HERE
Here is an old school way to tell if the Piney River is running you need to
check all the following gauges:
Emory: 1880
Town Creek: 434
Tellico: 1.9 ft
Signal Falls
Paddler Kemper Begley Photo By Paul Butler
A Better Way, and trade secret:
To know if The Piney got enough rain Click Here
T.V.A. has the rain gauges tied in. First check the Pikeville gauge. It is the closest to the headwaters. Then check the Dayton and Watts Bar rain gauges to make sure it wasn't an isolated storm. One inch of Nov-Mar. rain is needed for a boney run. A 1.5 of rain will bring up to good standards. This method is more accurate than any ole internet river gauge. A NOTE: here T.V.A. is behind the 8-ball on this one, their readings are not in real time, its like reading a day old newspaper.
For accumulative rain; graphed readings click here:
With these readings the Piney will be reading 2.5ft (min boney) between Nov.-Mar. After a big rain that will prime the creek first, if no big rain events have happened and have primed it, then all bets are off. You also need to do a visual, the gauge is hand painted gauge and the streambed changes, if the water level looks good...its good. There has been a lot of Boatertalk debate on 1/10 vs 4/10 that, to me its moot if you use all the tools described here, and what's a couple of tenths. Unless you drive up and it's 2/10 below min. So please take the time and check all the resources available. If it has just dropped out go over to Richland Creek. A note on Richland if you do the hike up section it will still be running right after the Piney drops out.
This is a great picture of Signal Falls and it shows you the sneak on river right...
Signal Falls
Paddler Paul Butler photo by Kemper Begley
Overall Description:
This is another long run on The Ridge. Once considered a hair run that had bragging rights, it has now turned into a fun run, but don't let that stop you. It is a classic run in a Wilderness Pocket that many don't get to see, it has rapids that are almost continuous, and where there aren't any, the current takes care of the rest. This one was always a good one to run when it is so cold and you don't want to get hammered or get out of your boat much. The Piney can be run at insane high levels with a strong group. The takeout has a nice park, where when the water is a little high, you can Park-n-Play at the park. There are numerous hiking trails in the area too that can add to the outdoor experience. Many base the Tellico River gauge for this run, even though they are not in the same mountain range.
To me there are 4 major rapids on the run.
The first one: (Class III.3)
Once you come to the confluence of Moccasin, and paddle for a little bit, the first major Horizon line, is Signal Falls, others have renamed it Sentinel Falls but out of respect for the guys who pioneered the run, it's still Signal. Signal has two lines really, the intermediate boater line is to go river right around it, and sneak it. (I'll never tell) The cool guy line to paddle straight forward on river left and bust a move. The drop looks harder than it is and can be run blind, but due to the Pine Beetle problem of dead trees on the ridge I don't recommend it.
Signal Falls
Paddler Andrew McClanahan Photo by Paul Butler
The second one: (Class III.4)
You will paddle for awhile , and the river will starting heading river left and the river will start getting more creekie , this is your signpost for a boulder garden that will be coming up, its straight forward creeking and looks much harder than it is, just take one eddy at a time, and you will be good to go.
The third one: (Class III.2)
Right after the "boulder garden" you will be coming into the next section called the" The Slide" you will pick you way thru the eddys, and start to think man its starting to get tougher, but relax the Piney is about to let you let you have some fun. A side note here: If someone is taking you down the run the first, the Piney newbie ritual is to have you run this blind, cause right around the corner it opens up and the slide is long enough to get your attention. It's a really fun drop and at the bottom you will be smiling. So with that you now know the beta on this, just don't let on that you know what's up.....
The Slide
Paddler Andrew McClanahan Photo by Paul Butler
The fourth one: (Class III.5)
The Fourth major one is "Hungry Jack", and at higher water it can be one of the tougher ones. In the late 80's and early 90's this one was like running a lowhead dam, with your buddies watching and was tough! It could keep a boater a long time and his gear even longer. (And don't think they would throw you a rope either) The gear and techniques aren't what made this rapid easier. A flood in 1994, blew it out, the rapid still has the feel of what was there, but none of the bite.2 out of 3 usually got to spend some quality time with Mr. Jack while a yard sale happened in the pool below.
Above Hungry Jack Photo by Paul Butler
Hungry Jack Photo by Paul Butler
There a lot of rapids that aren't mentioned here, most are straight forward river running rapids, and mainly class III.4, the biggest factor is the length and the time of year that the Piney usually runs. Our rule of thumb was to put on no later than 12:00, if you are running later than this, head over and attempt one of the White's Creek watershed runs.
*Okay I know you are going to ask, you've heard that the Piney is Class III-IV-, run and you just labeled those four big ones III's. Well The Piney compares in difficulty to Town Creek in Alabama which is definitely a Class III run, AND YES I did rate those major rapids III's, so it's Class III right?, well not really. Here is my take. The Piney is long, and usually in the dead of winter, and has some penalty points and the Piney is usually not paddled by the jaded creeker crowd, but by the rec. boater/weekend warrior, so its a Class III.6 run.
