We checked this area out yesterday. There is still access at Erwin Mill Road. However, the path at Maddox Bridge Road how has a No Trespassing sign and a load of riff raff dumped on the pathway. We could not see another way to access the river. If anyone knows of another access, please post. This area looks very pretty and we would love to get on this section.

We’ve had an issue with people shooting near the first set of rapids at the bottom where the two streams meet. Local Game Warden was notified. If ANYONE has an issue with someone firing into or over the river or any other harassment please notify the GameWarden .

We run this section a lot .Stay in the middle of the first rapids and let the current guide you. you will do fine. There’s a ledge drop about a mile down river and if look on river left you will see the water spray / bubbling up a little, go over the ledge there . After the sand bar about a mile the river bends to the right and you should stay river left. The water flows better there. Then aways down ,the river splits and you’ll see a cabin on the right. At the cabin you can take the left fork and run two set of rapids one at the beginning and on at the end on that little island. The final rapid, before the take out ,stay in the middle of the river . This is a great little run a lot of fun for adults and kids . Have fun and enjoy this section as much as we do

Ran this section 5/3/20 at around 2k CFS. At this level I agree the rapid below Erwin Mill Rd. bridge (Rutledge Shoals I think?) is a II+ if not III. It's long and would be tough to pick a clear line from the boat because of the first drop, which is maybe 2'-3'. Recommend scouting from the bridge unless you're pretty experienced in whitewater. We hugged the right bank of the river left channel around the island taking a short slide over the first drop. At the bottom the current will turn you downstream quickly and some upstream boat angle will help you end up in a clear channel. There's another maybe 2' drop around a mile downstream from Rutledge, but this is a single ledge and comparatively easy. We found a clear line river center, but there are others. Nice off the beaten path run. We put in at Holiday Dam and took out at Maddox bridge, which took about 4hrs including a short lunch stop.

Just did this section yesterday (3/29/20) and the rapids below the Erwin Mill Rd. bridge were class III easy. Luckily we decided to jump out and scope them out from the bridge before running them. We decided to portage the kayaks around them. The CFS was around 1600. Just a heads up for the inexperienced or even moderately experienced kayakers.