Lazy Holston River Ride

Trip Overview

A friend and I took a nice, leisurely ride down the South Fork of the Holston River between Fort Patrick Henry Dam and Riverfront Park in Kingsport, TN. yesterday. This section is a very nice choice if you're just looking for a relaxing ride with paddling optional. I've done it before in tubes as well. There is a boating ramp below the dam on the opposite side of the bridge in front of the dam. I have a 17'4" Necky Looksha and he had some sort of Pelican 115 sit on top kayak. One thing to be very aware of is whether or not the dam is generating or spilling. If the dam is not generating then the first couple of hundred yards are pretty much walking zones. On this day they were running one generator so, the river was flowing well. Not very fast but, a nice pace. From this point to the next real get-out spot at John B. Dennis hwy is roughly two and a quarter miles. There are a couple of small spots you could get out if you wanted but, no ramps or anything. At this point, you have two choices. Three actually. One, you can continue and go through the middle of Eastman Chemical Company. You will cross a submerged dam which can be very close if the water level is low enough. After that is another dam with about an eight foot drop and there are very treacherous items directly below it that can plainly kill you! Rebar and concrete blocks inhabit this area under the dam so, don't go over it. If the water is at the right level you can go to the left and get out and walk around to the downstream side and continue on for several miles to Riverfront with only one low class 2 section for about 150 years near the end of the trip. It can be a low class 3 according to water levels. After that section the rest is low 2 and below until the ramp to get out. You second option is to turn around at the dam and return to the ramp at John B Dennis hwy. I say ramp and it used to be an ok ramp but, the river has washed most of it away and it's actually a climb up rocks and concrete to get out and drag your boat to your truck. Your third and best option is entirely dependent on if the dam is generating. If they are not, you will not take this path! This is the sluice which cuts off to the left of the main river. It flows around Long Island all the way to Riverfront park. The dam was generating so, we took the sluice! Again, this is a pretty lazy ride with nothing difficult unless you are still on the sluice an hour after the dam stops generating. If you are you will be walking a LOT. There are places you could climb out beside the road and thumb a ride if necessary though. There were a couple of spots where the underlying strata create ridges running perpendicular to the flow and can catch you and turn you sideways if you're not careful. One solitary rock in particular caught me on it's oh so pointy tip and I spun around backwards until I was able to skootch...scootch...scuuch..uh...get myself off of it! Note: When I loaded my kayak I noticed a nice long curly-q about 10" long where the rock had peeled the plastic! Along the main part of the river we didn't see too much wildlife other than the usual turtles, cormorants and herons. However, on the sluice which is much less traveled, we saw trout, muskrat, groundhogs and all the aforementioned critters. If you worked nearby, you could actually do the upper section on your lunch break if you're a strong paddler. It was a perfect ride for me as I'm not in this for the exercise, I do it for the relaxation and quite, calmness of areas like this with no boats or nearby noisemakers of various ilk. If you're looking for a chill ride that's not too long, this is your river! Oh, whether you go down the sluice or straight through the Eastman section, the distance is roughly the same. It's around 5 miles so, the total trip is 7 miles or so.