General info: This river is located in North Carolina near South Carolina state line at the Saluda exit off I-26. This river section has class I and class II throughout the approximate 7 miles. This river is best suited for sit-on-tops or shorted boats but it can be run with every kind of boat except fiberglass. There are numerous technical rapids which require proper reading of the river and negotiating turns. Still a very safe river and any spills can be recovered in pool below rapid. Road runs along the entire river and the banks are easy to access in case of spill or emergencies. Paddle time is about 2.5 - 3 hours. Flow is dam controlled and runs at 3 levels: 60%, 100% and 200%. 100% is preferable but 60% is still fun. 200% is rare so I can't comment with experience but I assume it would be great for the more experienced paddlers. Level can be checked at The Green River Flows Page.

Please note generally the level on Saturday is repeated on Sunday. The releases take 4 hours to reach at the put-in so the flow is not up until after 11 am generally. Be wary of the rafters and tubers during summer months which start up about 11 am or 12 noon. Also be wary of the numerous fly fishermen in the first couple miles. They are there most of the year and come early before the tubers start up. Parking lot at put-in and take-out are safe and just few yards to river. Take-out is on river right and well marked with sign
"All Tubers take-out here".

Paddlers (7): Dennis Catoe, trip leader; Rock Garick, Mike Hollis, Linda Gray, Mike Boone, Spenser Rice, and Jean Rice.

Conditions: Sunny, slight breeze near end of paddle. Air 63 degrees, water 48 degrees. Water running at 60% which is minimal but runnable.

Our Trip: This is great fun whitewater river with several class I and II rapids. There was never a dull moment. The first two exciting rapids at the beginning of the paddle told us that we were going to have a fun day. About 1/3 of the way down is a rapid which we have deemed the Baptism Rock immediately followed by the Palmetto Paddlers pool. Mike Hollis was baptized and then swam into the pool below joining in the great tradition of Jean Rice and myself whom swam it last year. Only one swimmer this trip. I, Mike Hollis, Spenser and Jean ran this last year at 100% and it was great but somewhat a different river. With lower water, there was actually more rapids with more rocks and more drops that were washed out last time. Still I would prefer 100% flow but this level at 60% is still fun. I have to acknowledge the new paddlers to this river, Rock, Linda and Mike Boone, paddled with much skill. With the low level, there were numerous rocks and rapids, drops and ledges, some with two foot drops. Even in long touring/recreation boats, Mike Boone and Mike Hollis held their own with the experienced whitewater paddlers. There were several rapids on this trips that you could hear screams from paddlers as they made it through. It was that much fun and it improved all our skills.

We had so much fun that we will likely do this trip several times this spring and summer.

Dennis Catoe