Printer Friendly Raven Fork of the Oconaluftee River (Raven Fork Gorge)

Raven Fork of the Oconaluftee River (Raven Fork Gorge)


Stretch: Anaconda to Big Cove Road
Difficulty: Class V+
Distance: 1.65 miles (long options exist)
Flows: 7” to 18” are “low to normal/high” but folks run it into the 20s. Look for the Oconaluftee River to be 100 cfs for every inch on Raven Fork i.e. 1,100 cfs = 11”). American Whitewater's flow page.
Gradient: 587 fpm for 0.7 miles through Caveman, then 302 fpm
Put-in: Via the Enloe Creek Trail, put in either at the landslide for Anaconda or just past the landslide for Lord of the Rings
Take-out: Manuel Watty's house at the bridge on Big Cove Rd.
Shuttle: 1 mi of steep driving + either 4-wheel drive and clearance required for 0.7 miles plus 1.2 miles of hiking or start the hike from prior to the rough part for a total of 1.9 miles of hiking.
Season: Winter and Spring, Rain. (Will also rain off the occasional Summer thunderstorm)
Written: © 2015
Featured in A Wet State #98,in Nick Murphy's video which features many commonly portaged rapids, and in A Wet State's contribution to World Kayak's Video Guide

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