Piney Creek

 

Piney Creek

 

Hwy 70(Piney Creek) to Hwy 27 (White’s Creek)

 

                                               Tera Wilson approaching Chimpanzee aka. Baby Gorilla

             

  

                                                                    Photo by: Brandon Hughett

 

 “Tiney Piney”

Class III.9 (IV.3)

AVG FPM 90 ft

Almost 11 miles if you count White’s Creek (It makes a long day)

 

Virtual Internet Gauge:  CLICK HERE  then look for White’s Creek and Piney River and for it to be high.

 

Semi-Directions:

 

After setting your shuttle at the Lower White’s Creek take-out head up highway 27 heading towards Rockwood, leaving from Spring City’s direction. At a junkyard (use this for your landmark) turn left and head up Hwy 70. Then while in the big town of Ozone, (pop. 50) you will see the Ozone Falls trailhead for Fall Creek,  you have gone too far so turn around, most it seems blow by the actual put-in so this is why I mentioned it.

 

So coming from Rockwood you will cross the Tiney Piney put-in (Highway 70 crosses it and is the first bridge from leaving Rockwood) look for a railroad bridge for your landmark. Park here and use the railroad for your access point. This area is cool for parking, but at the confluence try to jet and paddle on to Lower White’s Creek. Landowner issues are becoming a problem due to encroachment.

 

From Brandon Hughett: 

Please include on the website that we can no longer park under the railroad bridge. We now have to park on side of the road and walk (climb) down to the creek under the Hwy 70 bridge. The bridge is easy to find also since the state put up signs at both ends that say "Piney Creek." I got the feeling from the locals that they don't want us there. It's important to stay on state right-of-way and be respectful of the residents.

 

                                        Tera Wilson in the middle of Chimpanzee aka. Baby Gorilla                 

          

                                                                        Photo by: Brandon Hughett

 

History:

This one has been run for what seems like almost forever, it has been in guidebooks and was in the popular Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to the Streams of Tennessee book, by Bob Sehlinger, and even some older old school guidebook/pamphlets. The T.S.R.A. from Nashville has made this a popular run also and they had it in their old “cookbook “ which pre-dated the oldest of the old guidebooks.  So there is plenty of information out there.

 Overview:

 This creek is another way to get to Lower White’s Creek and spices things up. It has 2 very solid Class IV rapids that let you know how your day is going to go, they are the first you will run and are easily walked, and for the most part the rest are Class III rapids. The flavor of the run is that is more a Class III play run, if you eliminate the two hard Class IV’s. Also it’s best to call this run Tiney Piney…due to the fact right up the road there is another Piney Creek, a Little Piney Creek, and a Piney River…ugh!

The Creek:

 

Right after putting in, you paddle for just a little bit and the two big ones come up,  the first one is named StairStep…and guess what… it’s a waterfall...okay…I’m kidding...it’s a Stairstep rapid that is run straight forward. If you don’t want this one, you can walk it on the left.

 From there you paddle a little ways and the river starts to constrict and makes a micro-gorge. This is your landmark for the rapid Chimpanzee. Get out and scout it on river right, or you can walk it on river right also. This is a set-up rapid that rewards you for having a good line. (btw some call this rapid Baby Gorilla)

From there you paddle some slide rapids and there is an undercut that comes into play on river right just a little bit after Chimpanzee …so keep on the lookout …it's bad...not going to sugar coat it...it's really a pothole and this is the most dangerous spot on the river other than that it’s a straight forward paddle to Lower White’s to get your playboating on…

 

                                          Photo of: Brandon Hughett in the runout of Chimpanzee

             

                                                                         Photo by Jim Ashe

Video:

 

There is some video footage of the run in our Video Section of the website.

 

Here is another perspective from Brandon:

 

Article by: Brandon Hughett

Knoxville, Tennessee

 

In the spring of 2008, I got the opportunity to paddle the Tiny Piney for the first time. I had heard stories of a beautiful gorge that descends the Cumberland Plateau with whitewater that was challenging but not too difficult. After a few days of rain, the time had finally come. I and three others, Tera, Anton, and Jim, met at the Hwy 27 White’s Creek Bridge takeout to set shuttle. Upon reaching the put-in, we found the original put-in under the railroad bridge to be off-limits. I got the feeling the locals did not want us there. However, there is a large enough shoulder on Hwy 70 to park on side of the road and walk down under the highway bridge on state property to reach the creek.  Soon after we put-on, we found the first of the two class IV rapids; Stair Step. We hopped out on the left for a quick scout and ran successful lines just left of center. Just around the bend was another horizon line in a mini-gorge. This signified the other class IV rapid; Baby Gorilla. We scouted again on the left and all four of us ran successful lines starting just right of center then riding the tongue down the middle and left. It appears that both banks of this rapid are undercut due to the geology of the rock being a soft slate rock which is common for most plateau runs. Class III rapids followed for the next half mile until we found another horizon line. I had heard stories of this rapid due to its sieve characteristics that is waiting to eat you up boat and all. But what appeared to be an innocent looking drop soon turned into a tense moment as Jim dropped in and fell into a crack. He came out of his boat and climbed free of the sieve with the help of Anton. I chose a far left line to stay away from the sieves. After putting the pieces back together, we proceeded downstream to find a beautiful river gorge through a quiet setting. Waterfalls were cascading down both sides of the gorge around every bend. Then we came to a slide section where we found sliding drops into fluffy wave holes. There are some of the best play waves I’ve ever seen on this plateau creek run. Soon after, Mammy’s Creek and Fall Creek enter the river on the right which more than doubles the flow. The play waves begin to get sweeter and the run starts moving faster. Then finally, Whites Creek comes in and it’s big play wave action to the Hwy 27 Bridge takeout.

This 11 mile run will take you through one of the plateaus most beautiful and secluded gorges. We ran this run with enough water at 1.5ft on the Hwy 27 Bridge gauge on White’s Creek. I don’t think I’d run it much lower though. Most look for 2ft on the gauge.  

                                            Photo of: Brandon Hughett in the meat of  Chimpanzee

                             

             

                                                                                Photo by Jim Ashe