Nantahala River Releases

Wesser,NC

The calendars below describe the "recreational releases" tentatively scheduled for the Nantahala River below Nantahala Power Plant in 2008.  Note that by passing your cursor over the colored calendar cells the release information will appear in a pop-up text window.  Note too that the schedule below is indeed tentative.  Under drought conditions the releases can start later and end earlier than stated below.  Confirm the current three-day generation schedule before leaving for the river!

Gage Information

Unscheduled releases occur year round.  For an estimate of the current flow at Ferebee Park, go to the USGS's Nantahala at Hewitt real time flow page.  For an archive of actual past releases go to the boatingbeta.com Nantahala flows page.  The water reaches the put-in almost immediately after the release begins;  it reaches the Nanatahala Outdoor Center (NOC) take-out approximately 3 hours later.  Except during periods of very heavy rain the river is either "on" or "off."  When it is "on" the flow is approximately 800 cfs;  when it is "off" the flow is approximately 60 cfs.

Notes

The USFS charges a $1 daily fee to paddle the Nantahala River.  Daily USFS passes can be purchased at the NOC Rentals Counter and at the put-in (most likely other places too -- email me if you know of others);  $5 season passes can be purchased at the NOC Outfitter Store.

Shuttle Information

The NOC runs shuttles at 11am, 12noon, and 1pm during off peak times.  As business picks up the shuttle runs more frequently, gradually increasing to as often as every 20 minutes and as late as 3-4pm during the peak summer season.  Shuttles cost $5/day or $30/season.  Both daily and season shuttle passes can be purchased from the Rentals Counter in the NOC Main Parking Lot.