Pacolet River: Clifton Beach to Goldmine Road (Lawson's Fork Creek)

Skill Level: Moderate

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Rapids: Class I , II

Length: 4.00 miles

Duration: 2 hours

Portaging: No

What to Expect

This is a very popular paddling trip on the Pacolet River with Class I and II rapids. Paddlers can expect to see a combination of slow slow moving water and short sections of rapids along rural scenery.

Access

Put in:

Clifton Beach

239 Goldmine Road, Spartanburg, SC 29307

Access Details

Clifton Beach is open from 8 AM - 8 PM daily and features a large parking area, restrooms, and river access. River access is located across the street from parking. Avoid the dam and its facilities. Stay away from the dam. For more information, visit www.spartanburgparks.org. Contact 864-804-5814 for questions or to report issues.

Take out:

Goldmine Road

2201 Goldmine Road, Spartanburg, SC 29307

Access Details

A gravel pull off is located downstream (south) of the bridge, river right, with space for 2-3 cars. A short but steep trail leads to the bank which can become muddy during wet conditions, use caution.

Trip Details

Goldmine Road is a short 5 minute drive from Clifton Beach; shuttling cars should be quick and easy. This section features several stretches of Class I-II+ rapids. There are no road crossings along this section. About 0.8 miles into the trip, paddlers will come across two islands; stay to the left of both islands. Upon nearing the confluence of Lawson's Fork Creek with the Pacolet River, there is another small island; stay to the right, and then turn to paddle upstream along Lawson's Fork Creek until reaching the Goldmine Road bridge. In very low and very high waters, paddling upstream may become difficult. For additional information, view Upstate Forever's Pacolet River and Lawson's Fork Creek Blueway Map.

Waterway:

Pacolet River

Upstream Trip (1)

Pacolet River: Clifton Old Town to Clifton Beach

Downstream Trip (1)

Lawson's Fork Creek: Goldmine Road (Lawson's Fork Creek) to Upper Pacolet Shoals

Comments (15)

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Paula Cumalander

Apr 05, 2024 1:08 pm EDT

Paddled April 1, 2024 @ 400cfs 2.68ft. Put in at Clifton Beach. This was our first time here. On the second island, we chose to go right. There is a class II here and class I. I'm not sure why they say to stay left. The left line looked very rocky. We were in ww kayaks and paddling up Lawson's Fork was difficult. We had to get out and walk at one point. The take out is a steep, sandy hill. The river is clean and only has a few cabins/shacks on it. It will be beautiful when the Mountain Laurels bloom. We didn't have any problems on the river at this level.

Christine Le Clair

May 31, 2023 9:43 am EDT

Sorry I am not sure why our post went up three times!!!!!

Christine Le Clair

May 31, 2023 9:42 am EDT

We are a new Outfitter in the area and we run trips and shuttle service (for people with their own boats) from Clifton Beach to Pacolet and from Goldmine Rd to Pacolet. Check us out at www.vintageviewvacay.com for dates, times and prices.

Christine Le Clair

May 31, 2023 9:41 am EDT

Christine Le Clair

May 31, 2023 9:41 am EDT

Geoffrey Chambers

Jan 16, 2023 8:09 am EST

Paddled at 450 cfs. One spot around the first island was boney on the river left side of the island. Looked like a lot of water went right of the island. Any reason not to go that way? Great little piedmont river. Lots of fun. I would place three of these drops at class II. The required maneuvering and were strong enough to have capsize consequence for a canoe.

Geoffrey Chambers

Jan 16, 2023 8:09 am EST

Geoffrey Chambers

Jan 16, 2023 8:08 am EST

Thomas Constant

Jun 29, 2022 5:47 pm EDT

June 29th 2022 if you're heavy like me it's a tough float currently with the low water. It is doable but tough.

Carla Beals

Aug 01, 2021 9:38 am EDT

Clifton Beach and the parking lot is closed. Across the river though is a park where we were able to park and put in our kayaks. We were trying to combine this paddle with the down stream one to the dam in Pacolet but that area was also closed (the kayaking gods were not looking favorably on this trip) so used the Lawsons Fork take out. The paddle was at the minimum levels to run but was enjoyable.

Krzysztof Zaryczny

Aug 10, 2020 11:35 am EDT

Marvin, the water flow was really low, if higher I could see one class II rapid based on several other rivers I have done that are classified Class I-II. Like the map above shows, there was really only one area that would be a class II rapid.

Lacey Tull

Jul 24, 2020 3:02 pm EDT

We Kayaked from Clifton Beach and get out at the Pacolet River dam area, there is a kayak port to get off the river before reaching the dam (if you don't take Lawson's Fork Creek) (there are warning signs before you reach the dam). It's a lot of fun!

marvin phifer

Jul 15, 2020 6:37 pm EDT

Thanks for the info on having to get out of your kayak, I would think 492cfs would have been fine. Guess it needs upper 500's. I do not think there are any class II rapids, do you?

marvin phifer

Jul 15, 2020 4:44 pm EDT

Thanks for the info on having to get out of your kayak, I would think 492cfs would have been fine. Guess it needs upper 500's. I do not think there are any class II rapids, do you?

Krzysztof Zaryczny

Jun 30, 2020 9:58 am EDT

Paddled it on June 28, 2020 at 492 CFS. Had to get out of the kayak to go over the rocks after getting stuck. No problematic trees or anything that isn't easy to get around. Paddling upstream on Lawson's Fork was difficult so we walked that portion as well.