Step Falls on the Little Duck River. I'm sure all of it has been run at some point but we decided to play it safe.

My usual crew had difficulty deciding what to run on Sunday. We knew it was probably going to be the last really cold Sunday before things warmed up so we were looking for something close to home and quick to run. Lois Newton suggested running a short stretch of the Little Duck in Middle Tennessee. I agreed because I really wanted to paddle, though I was slightly disappointed because I was under the mistaken impression that it was a flatwater run. I was wrong.

The entire group of 5 converged at the Old Stone Fort State Park Museum parking lot to begin the hike to the put-in. There is an unfortunate steep-as-heck carry in that is about 1/8 to 1/4 mile and about 60 vertical feet in the last 100 yards that really is not fun. On the way you get a jaw dropping look at class IV+ Step Falls. I never even considered running the entire thing although the last ledge looked very inviting on the right side, but the approach was too low and it appeared I would get stuck. Stacy Stone really wanted to run an auto-boof ledge in the middle over a horrible looking hydraulic but decided it wasn't the right situation to go for it so we all launched below the falls.

This point is where I started to wonder: where was the flatwater? As I looked downstream I had a sudden reminiscence of a trip I did on the Roaring River previously. When I looked downstream I saw a tight, technical series of rock jumble rapids up against sheer rock walls. It looked like a class II rock banging creek. Even the cascades upstream reminded me of Johnson Mills at the put-in of the Roaring River. It was strange to find such similarity in Middle Tennessee.

We ran the first rapid against the sheer rock wall on river left. Boat-banging class II.



Stacy probed the first few drops and we all woke up very quickly. The first few drops were extremely swift and technical class II to II+, with S-turns through boat-banging slots no bigger than a boat width. It was a little hard to identify and jump into eddies. The level was a little lower than desirable although it was still runnable. ". . . And now we're creeking," I said to someone as we dodged branches and bounced off rocks through tight slots. For me, it couldn't have been more unexpected.


Little Duck River from Allen Pogue on Vimeo.
Video of Lois Newton running a creeky drop on the Little Duck. "Hey Middle Tennessee, the Cumberland Plateau called and they want their creek back."

Finally we came upon a somewhat sketchy looking sequence that involved a couple of quick turns with a potential for getting slapped in the face with some branches. Ahhhh, creeking, I'd forgotten how much fun it was. Stacy and I ran it but the others all decided to get out and look at it and then decided to just portage. There was a sweet surfing wave at the bottom and Stacy and I took turns front surfing in our creek boats while we waited, but I couldn't quite get turned around to do a 360.


A typical rapid in the first quarter mile below Step Falls. Stacy and I ran this sequence but the others decided to portage. Melanie Taylor, Sandra Walker, and Stacy Stone (in the boat).

Below this the river settled down to pool-and-drop class I-II for another half mile or so. The river split at one point and everybody except me went right. I explored the route to the left, which turned out to be easier, and found an even better play wave at the end of the island where the two channels merged again. Fortunately there was decent eddy service and we spent quite some time there talking and taking turns front surfing. I eventually back-ferried onto the wave but couldn't stick on it for more than a couple of seconds. Then we went on downstream and found a nice rapid with a series of holes and waves suitable for play. I nearly landed a spin in a little hole and then we spent another 20 minutes or so surfing on the best wave of the river, a 20 inch breaker that would hold you as long as you wanted to be on it. Everybody surfed and we all had a good time.


Not many trees have sprouted out leaves yet.

Eventually the Little Duck reaches the confluence with the Duck and some of us practiced attainments by paddling up the Duck to the last rapid before the confluence and then we all headed on downstream. In this area we saw some hikers in places and were amazed at all of the wildflowers, especially the astonishing preponderance of Bluebells.


For some reason the river banks host a ridiculous amount of Blue Bell wildflowers and apparently we arrived on the peak day of the season.

The river eventually turned more to flatwater punctuated by class I and I+ rapids and wandered past cliffs, caves, and small waterfalls spilling down into the river. Finally we passed a big log jumble and identified the small creek that we had to paddle up to get to the takeout, which amusingly was right by the 10th tee on the golf course that is owned and operated by the State Park.


A small waterfall dropping into the Duck near the takeout.


The takeout is along the golf course.

Mexican afterwards in Tullahoma, quick ride home and glad to have enjoyed another day on another river.