Exploring Rocky Branch to the Deep River
| River: | Other |
| Skill: | Novice+/Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 05/30/2025 |
Rocky Branch is a creek that I’ve had on my mind for a couple of years now mainly due to the gradient, but I’ve only seen it with high enough water one time when I was already planning on running the Rocky River instead. While 54 ft/mile isn’t unusual on a mountain creek out west, in our area of Central NC, it is very rare, and I was happy to see how that might feel in a sitting in a boat. It starts as a small trickle from just north of the Luck Stone Pittsboro rock quarry by Charlie Brooks Rd, but the logical path for me was to put in at East Gargus Rd. This put in begins with an elevation of 340 ft and drops down to 198 ft, 2.6 miles later where it meets the Deep River. To put this into perspective, on the same river basin, this would be like starting from an elevation just above the final section of rapids on the Upper Rocky, recently suggested to be called the “Green Zone” down to the same point on the Deep River via the middle and lower sections of the Rocky River to the same point on the Deep, a distance of 14.25 miles. I did have some reluctance, however, since this is not even named a creek, but rather a Branch. In my research, there is no standard definition for width or flow that makes a stream a fork vs creek vs branch, but the general information that’s available is that a branch is a smaller stream than a creek, which means this was going to be especially micro. I do know that despite having a limited water basin for gathering flow, the creek does fill up enough to be navigable sometimes. About two years ago when I ran the Lower Rocky River at higher-than-normal flow, I do recall seeing Rocky Branch gushing with flow at Mt View Church Rd in route to the river where water was nearly to the level of the road, so I do know that with enough rain it would run. Luckily, in looking up GIS land data, the majority of the land through which this creek flows is state owned with very small parcels being private property. In fact, at some point in the future, the Deep River State Trail is supposed to pass through the area with a bridge over the creek, eventually connecting to the White Pines Nature Preserve at the Rocky and Deep River confluence.
On a low water day, I had scouted the mouth of this creek with the Deep River confluence, and I decided that at least in the quarter mile or so that I inspected, it would be wide enough to run with water, but with the normal need to be cautious considering strainers and blind bends. The same appeared to be the case at the put in at E Gargus Rd, which although narrow, was at least 15 ft in width. 15 ft is normally a minimum width that I set for small streams. Not long from the put in, the creek goes into a wide, swampy lake before continuing downstream and satellite views were very limited in visibility to give an idea on what might happen on the trip. The suspense of what would happen after that swamp has been on my mind for a long time now and I’ve been very eager to see up close in person what I couldn’t see from the satellite.
Today’s Trip:
I had initially planned on running the Upper Flat River, which is one of my favorites, but timing for the plans I made with my paddle partner didn’t work out and the Flat at the levels we had this morning was not a safe gamble to do solo. Because of this, I opted to give Rocky Branch a try. When I arrived at the put in, I could see that the water level was low, but there was some flow, hinting that just maybe there would be some fun downstream. I was mostly wrong on this bit of optimism. I figured it would probably be a hike more than a paddle, but I was pretty eager to see what was there and with this type gradient, hiking would be a safer bet anyways to give a good scout to plan for the future. At East Gargus Rd, there are some corrugated tunnels that go under the road. Today I could just squeeze through the tunnels, but now I know that the tunnels have to be completely covered for this to be a decent run.
The creek was flat water for the first several hundred feet but opens up to be a larger, swampy lake, just like I saw on the satellite. The lake had three beaver dams that I needed to portage, but would likely have fluffy drops with proper water. Admittedly, I’m not sure the ethics of running a beaver dam drop, so if this is a no no, I’d love for someone to let me know.
After the third beaver dam, the creek returns back to a running stream, not much different from any other small creek we have in the area. There was the occasional shoaly ripple in this area, but nothing substantial in terms of rapids for the next half mile or so. About a mile into the trip, however, you begin to see steeper, rockier slopes and channelized water. This is where you could really tell the gradient was picking up. From this point until the end, there were constant pour over ledges, shoaly boogie and the occasional small boof drop. There were a few spaces of flat water, but not many and I suspect they’d be moving very quickly still with flow. In the areas where the rapids were, the streambed was very similar to other creeks I’ve run in the area such as Little Buffalo Creek, Robeson Creek and Brooks Creek. The rapids did not seem to be more challenging in terms of features, but they were much longer in duration in comparison with some lasting several hundred feet at a time, stair stepping down with no clear end in sight when you first approach the rapid.
Unfortunately, for me, the trip was almost entirely on foot since I needed about a foot more of water if I was going to be floating over the rocks. In summary, I found the trip worthwhile, but more water would be needed to really know what it’s like. I was able to get a look at the new access going in on the Deep River, which was about a mile downstream, and we are in for a treat when that goes in. Also, while it wasn’t pleasant and I should have planned things out a bit better, this was my first foot shuttle for a longer trip. I don’t think I’ll be doing much more of this type shuttling, but at least I can say I’ve done this now. Hopefully others caught some good trips after the rain.
