Tellico River - Easter Weekend - April 14-17

[billh1970]

Paddling the Tellico River around Easter has been a favorite for me, and several years ago I started putting it on the Coastals calendar. Sometimes there's a group from the Smith River Valley Canoe Club, and a handful from the area around Roanoke where I live.

The Tellico is a creeky and fun river, and one of my favorites!


The plan for myself:

Thursday April 14: Drive to the Tellico, and paddle in the mid afternoon to evening. Probably would be the Middle section of the Tellico.

Friday April 15 Paddle the Tellico - Ledges and the Middle sections depending on the river level and paddler interest.

Saturday April 16: Repeat of Saturday.

Sunday April 17: Abbreviated repeat of Saturday and drive home.

I really enjoy both the Ledges and the Middle sections and want to paddle both. My Ledges comfort zone is around 1.5+' ish to 2.0+ ish on the gauge. The level is often in that range in the Spring, and usually is a good range for paddling. It's also easy to avoid certain parts of the Ledges if desired, such as Jaredd's Knee. The river is roadside.

Several years ago there was an over abundance of water and we paddled Citico Creek, and the Tellico above the Ledges and the Tellico into town. Some of us paddled the Ledges before the heavy rain and the middle section after the levels came down somewhat.

The Ledges:
https://www.americanwhitewater.org/cont ... /1791/main

The Middle section:
https://www.americanwhitewater.org/cont ... /1792/main

Some videos from an earlier trip:
Ledges:
https://vimeo.com/94369849

Middle Section:
https://vimeo.com/92481159

Tellico Plains is here:
https://goo.gl/maps/LMcdP25Sua12

Lodging for me is a cabin, but other options like camping are available.
http://www.tellicologcabins.com/

A camping option:
https://www.cmtrails.com/

The gauge:
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/tn/nwis/uv/? ... 0065,00060

[pyoung]

Depending on water, I'm interested, though I can't get there until Friday around noon or 1pm. I'll keep an eye on levels next week.

[billh1970]

Our plan is to meet at 10:15 at the Cherohala Skyway Visitor's Center in Tellico Plains and move upstream from there. About 20 people have expressed an interest so we'll probably split into groups and it shouldn't be difficult to find a group since it's roadside.

[Mango]

Sejal and I are planning on being there. Hopefully to paddle on Friday.

[stephanieb]

Headed down that way Thursday, looking forward to paddling Friday
Stephanie Bertram

[billh1970]

We'll see you all Friday morning!