Powell River — Powell River Blueway (near Arthur): River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 835 cfs the Powell River is sitting in the middle of the 120 cfs–3,000 cfs range for this reach, with 715 cfs of margin to the nearer edge — the most forgiving part of the window on the numbers alone.

Over the last 24 hours it has gone from 923 cfs to 835 cfs, 10% down. Daily means over the past 7 days have run between 768 cfs and 1,060 cfs, 27% lower at the end of the week than the start.

Powell River at Powell River Blueway (near Arthur) is a Class I run in Tennessee — easygoing moving water with light riffles and nothing technical. Most paddlers put in at Powell River Blueway access (Hwy 63 area) and take out at Combs Ford / downstream Blueway access.

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at 120–3,000 cfs (a conservative estimate — see our methodology). Much below that and the Powell River gets low and bony, so you end up scraping gravel and walking the shallows; well above the top of the range it turns fast, cold and pushy, which is a more serious day than most casual boaters want. We read USGS gauge 03532000 about every 30 minutes and compare the live number to that window, so the verdict at the top of this page reflects conditions right now rather than a monthly average.

Flows here are usually most dependable April–October. Spring can run high after rain or snowmelt, and late summer often drops too low to float well — but the gauge always beats the calendar, so check today's reading before you go.