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Woodcock Creek
Sequatchie Valley Tennessee
Water Quality (1 bad 3 good)
Scenery (1 bad 3 good) 
Maps:
Watershed Map (to find
location and size of creek)
Click Here Special thanks to Steve Zerfos for
making the map. Topo Map:
Click Here A special thanks to Randy Hale of NorthRiverGeographic
for the map
Photo of Jonathan "Lothar " Clardy by Andy Mitchell
How to get there without a GPS...BUT FIRST THIS WARNING! The land is all
private land, you will be trespassing without written permission , please do not
screw this up for the rest of us. Please read this first
CLICK HERE
How to find the Mystery Put-in:
Look on page 24 of your Tennessee Gazetteer, Find Hwy 28 on your map, that 's
the take-out, now to find the put-in. You drive up Daus Mountain road, See where
Grundy County and Sequatchie County meet on Daus road, there is a logging road
on the map heading right for the creek, that's it...follow it down...and be
mindful of the land owners .
From Ted Hayes:
He described it as a manky run , with little to write home rapids that was
full of trees and with terrible portages. All of the action is @ the bottom minus
3 rapids. The only way I would go back is to just hike up from the bottom & run
that section.
Paddling the whole thing is a lot of work for what you get, although there are
some really good rapids. Just not that many.
Ted
River Description
To me this is the best run of the Sequatchie Valley runs, it has it all sieves, slots and epic rapids. The put-in is not even a gimme. This paddle is best to tackle in the last spring , there is so much that comes at you, that you need all available daylight.This run is on par with Henderson Creek (Firescape) over on Walden's Ridge , if you feel comfortable there , you will be here. Another reason this is the better of the runs on the Sequatchie side, is that it holds it's water better. Most Sequatchie Valley runs go under water due to all the caves. Woodcock is usually running on a high North Chick day.
The names of rapids are cool too.
Whopper Down the Hatch
T-12
Flood Gate.
It's got it all...T-12 has broken a back (Stuart's) also noted in the middle section the creek changes flavors and weird eddies appear that surge up and down and give a boater an unpleasant ride at higher waters if not prepared, and not the weird big water type, this one has it's own flavor.
The sieves here are like Miller Creek in Alabama, they add insult to injury. You're in a sieve , but with bonus points. The bonus points are caved out sieves , that might wind you up in the Land of the Lost.
This run is continuous, demanding and you need a strong group, more have paddled this walking away vowing never to come back, for the hardcore group, they can't wait to enjoy this tough run again.
Very Special thanks to Andy Mitchell for the Intel, pictures and all the knowledge he provided to help make this Woodcock article possible.
Photo of Jonathan "Lothar " Clardy by Andy Mitchell
"Whopper down the hatch"
Photo of Scott Carter Photo by Andy Mitchell
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