French Broad River (Section 12 - Del Rio to Bridgeport)
| Stretch: | Del Rio to Bridgeport |
| Difficulty: | Class II+ to III- |
| Distance: | 6.15 miles |
| Flows: | 800 to ?,000 cfs. Current USGS French Broad at Hot Springs gauge |
| Gradient: | 10.7 fpm |
| Put-in: | Access off of Old River Road downstream of Del Rio |
| Take-out: | Access under the US-25 bridge near Huff Island |
| Shuttle: | 7.9 miles (15 minutes one way, some good quality dirt road) |
| Season: | Pretty much year round, even in drought years |
| Written: | © 2025 |
Driving from Knoxville to Hot Springs you see the two main ledges from the highway, they look fun, but besides that, it looks almost all flat. So, to my surprise the section had three more high quality rapids which rounded out the day nicely. Those rapids aren't really obvious from the road, so just be aware they are all below the ledges. I do wish the first half wasn't so flat, that will be the main thing preventing me from rushing back there. Though it will be on the rotation for the kid friendly rivers as it was worth it. This was a memorable day though, mainly just watching the seven kids below 7 years of age just having an absolute hoot all together, loving the last warm day of fall, on the river, together.
Mi 2.6:
- Ledge #1 (II+ to III). The most consequential rapid of the run is straight forward at low flows, down the center of the main channel, sorta right to left with the direction of the water. However, at higher flows, I have seen from the road, this hydraulic can get serious. Either think about running against the right shore or portaging. Scout on the right.
- Ledge #2 (II+ to -III). The second ledge is more broken. The center/right channel can be run down the middle exiting cross current against the right channel's flow. The far right channel makes a very abrupt turn and has badly placed rocks making it less ideal. The far left channel also looks doable, maybe a little rocky, and hard for larger craft to access at lower flows due to shallow entrance.
- Left Shore (II to II+). A fun fluff feature on the left shore can be avoid to the right if so desired. I sorta think this rapid may wash out at higher flows.
- Busy Bee (II to II+). A less channelized rapid, there was a straight forward center channel, or some zig zagging on the left that could be done hitting some small reactionaries. The kayaks went left, the raft went center/right. This one probably takes more to wash out as there were larger rocks still sticking out of the water.
- Last Hurrah (II to II+). The water all funnels into a central chute with some nice waves that crash on you. Good fun rapid!
Cool little rock gorge with flat water
Take-out: From Newport, take US-25 South (east). Once outside of town, continue past the US-70 junction on US-25 for 3.6 miles. Just after you cross the bridge over the French Broad, take the immediate left onto Bluff Rd. In 100 feet take the small left road to steeply drop 100 yards down to the access at the river below the bridge. Parking is limited down there, but plentiful for the demand.
Put-in: Continue 6.3 miles up US-25/US70 upstream to Del Rio. Cross over the river on TN-107. After 0.6 miles, as the road pulls away from the river, turn onto the dirt Old River Rd. Follow this 0.9 miles downriver to the what used to be a boat ramp prior to the 2024 flood. Now it is just a shoulder with room for 4 cars and a spot to scramble down to the river.
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