Section 3 of Chattooga – Earls Ford to below Bull Sluice – Class III (III+/IV)

Call David at 970-631-1296 to arrange for rendezvous since CCC has members all over the place.
Section 3 of the Chattooga is a Class III (IV) run on a beautiful Wild and Scenic River.  

Earl’s Ford – Follow Sandy Ford directions but don’t turn on 721A, just follow the road to the parking area / access trail. 
The shuttle direction should be fairly obvious (e.g. drop and empty car at 76 bridge and drive to Earl’s Ford following the above directions). 
See AW for rapid descriptions: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/475/
RAPID DESCRIPTIONS

EARLS FORD

Class -Mile – 0

Put-In

WARWOMAN RAPID

Class – II+Mile – 0.3

Run right to left.

FIRST ISLAND RAPID

Class – IIMile – 1.2

Run the right side of the island.

ROCK GARDEN

Class – II+Mile – 1.6

Technical rock garden

3 ROOSTER TAILS

Class – IIIMile – 2.25

About a quarter mile above Dicks Creek ledge is a short but exciting rapid with a rock that bisects the river flow. Most boaters take the left channel.

DICKS CREEK LEDGE

Class – III+Mile – 2.5

One of the more technical rapids on the upper stretch. Many options for routes. Above 4.5 feet this rapid turns into a nasty riverwide hole.

SANDY FORD RAPID

Class – IIIMile – 3

Pretty easy at lower levels. But rather interesting at high water. When 5 falls is too high for mere mortals, lots of boaters end up doing high water runs of section 3. Above 4.5 feet Sandy Ford hides the biggest hole on section 3. Three of my friends tell about a simultaneous cartwheel session in this hole at high flows. 2 of them swam out. The boats ran the narrows without them. Getting the boaters back with the boats got kinda epic.Just below the rapid on river left is an access point. Whetstone Creek enters the Chattooga here right below Sandy Ford and boaters can hike their boats up this creek for some waterfalls.

THE NARROWS

Class – III+Mile – 3.5

The longest individual rapid on Section 3. There is an easy to avoid undercut on the bottom left. The middle of the rapid features some unusually swirly water.

NARROWS – SECOND HALF OF THE RAPID

Class – IIIMile – 3.51

SECOND LEDGE

Class – IIIMile – 4

A 6 foot tall ledge. This is where many southeastern boaters learned to boof. At moderate flows there is a good wave below the ledge. Portage left.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE

Class – III+Mile – 5.4

Run left, punch the wave hole.
 (Click on image for larger view)

FALL CREEK

Class -Mile – 8

Access point

ROLLERCOASTER

Class – IIIMile – 9

fun wavetrain.

PAINTED ROCK

Class – III+Mile – 9.2

Easy at low flows, but grows some large waves above 2 feet. Stay off the big rock in the middle.

THRIFTS FERRY

Class – II+Mile – 11

Access point on river left. Just below the thrifts ferry trail is a sweet rapid with a great wave. Nice eddy on river left. Great for spud boats above 1.7 feet.

BULL SLUICE

Class – IVMile – 12.2

Very large double drop rapid full of potholes and undercuts. During the summer the locals will swim into a cave under the main flow then hang out and watch you boat over them. AW standard rated class 4+ from 1.8 to 2.3. Its easier lower, and harder higher.