Up Beaver Creek Knoxville, Tennessee

Trip Overview

This was a day trip down Beaver Creek, Knoxville's urban waterway. My partner Pegasus and I paddled in kayaks on a very hot afternoon. We put in at the boat ramp behind Powell High School and took out at Roy Arthur Stormwater Park on Harrell Road in Powell, Tennessee. I'm not sure how many miles this is, but it took us about five hours to paddle from point to point. Despite the hot weather, this creek is very shady so the whole day felt wonderful. We saw a beaver on Beaver Creek, so name checks out. We also saw blue heron, butterflies, caterpillars, turtles, and a hawk. At one point there were a couple of cows bathing in the creek. It took quite a while to shoo them out of the way; they were far too comfortable chilling in the water.

It hadn't rained in about a week, so the water was low. Several strainers that required maneuvering, but that just kept things interesting ;-) I wouldn't try to paddle this in a canoe, but we did just fine in our whitewater kayaks. We had to get out and portage a few times due to the low water depth.

Overall, this was a very pleasant afternoon doing some urban paddling and bird watching. The scenery was great, and we didn't see a single other person on the river. We're going to paddle on more sections of the Beaver Creek Water Trail, so stay tuned for more updates ;-)

- Joy Baby & Pegasus