Cove Creek

Cove Creek Canyoneering Canyoning Caving

Also known as: Big Bradley Falls.

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‌	Difficulty:‌3C I (v3a4 I) Swift water Raps:‌1, max ↨200ft Metric Overall:  ⟷1.6mi Approach:  ⟷0.8mi  ↑200ft Descent:  ⟷528ft Exit:  ⟷0.8mi  ↑300ft Yes Red Tape:‌Permit required Shuttle:‌None
Start:	35.2680, -82.2916
Parking:	35.2620, -82.2848
Condition Reports:
Weather:
Best season:	Anytime (avg for this region) winter spring summer fall Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Regions:	North America United States North Carolina

35.2680, -82.291635.2620, -82.2848https://ropewiki.com/images/e/e9/Cove_Creek.kmltopo

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Introduction

Cove Creek is located within Green River Game Lands in Polk County, North Carolina. It is a tributary of the Green River.

Great quick rappel session. Bolted anchor. Simple approach. Good for after work.

Note that you need a permit to do this canyon. See Red Tape section for permit information.

Approach

Standard hiking trail until you have to break off of it to the left, walking behind a wooden fence (35.26804, -82.29054). Then you need to walk down keeping to the main social trail, trending down and left. You will eventually find a flatter area with three bolts in a large rock in the ground. It is also recommended to go down to the exit and put up a fixed line for the climb out before you rappel down. That has 2 bolts and is about 15-20 feet tall.

Descent

Big Bradley Falls

Using the 3 bolts as an anchor or the tree next to them as an anchor, you will need 200 feet to get to the bottom (400 feet if you are pulling the rope). Initially you drop down 50 feet into a pothole (likely will need to swim ~15 feet to the other side), then you continue the rappel 150 feet down to the bottom.

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Exit

Two exit options.

1. Standard exit, climb up the land slide area down canyon right, you will eventually have to climb up a 15 ft 5.4 rock climb, then scramble across the social trail until you meet back up with the top of the rappel. Note that this section has a significant number of spots where a fall would be bad. None of it is scary, just take your time. The 5.4 climb has 2 bolts on top, so it is normal to put up a fixed line on it before you rappel the falls to use to ascend.

2. Creek exit. The official trail following Cove Creek no longer exists after a flood in 2018, but you can continue down the creek and hike all the way out (1 mile of creek walking followed by 1 mile of trail). This will require you to pull the rope for the falls, and it will require you to do a shuttle.

Red tape

A permit is required to access Big Bradley Falls. This permit is available because the Carolina Climbing Coalition worked with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. They say the permit will be returned within 5 days, but I got mine back within 10 minutes.

No permit is required if you are only going to the overlook.

Permit: https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Hunting/Documents/MOA_Big%20Bradley%20Falls_Individuals_Final_2020_06_05.pdf

Email: [email protected]

https://carolinaclimbers.org/node/1168