Bee Cliff (Tennessee)

The Bee Cliff is a prominent northeast Tennessee geological limestone feature with high caves that overlooks the Watauga River and the Siam community of Carter County, Tennessee.

Geography

Bee Cliff is located in northeastern Tennessee at coord|36|21|07|N|82|08|11|W| 36.351944° North, -82.136389° West.

The lower face of the Bee Cliff is across and immediately above the Watauga River from Wilbur Dam Road. The summit is located off Blue Springs Road. The elevation at the Bee Cliff summit is convert|1968|ft|m.

Travel afloat

By travel afloat on the Watauga River, the Bee Cliff is located approximately 10 to 15 minutes downstream from the Tennessee Valley Authority Wilbur and Watauga dams and approximately one hour and forty-five minutes upstream of the city of Elizabethton, Tennessee.

For whitewater rafting and kayaking on the Watauga River, the most popular Carter County "put-in" for whitewater rafting is found immediately downstream of the Wilbur Dam and the most popular "take-out" is found approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours downstream (depending upon the volume of the reservoir release and other factors) at the Blackbottom riverside portion of the linear trail in Elizabethton. While floating downstream "straight shot" on the Watauga River, you can reference several local landmarks in order to estimate your length of time and distance on the river to Elizabethton:
*approximately thirty minutes to float downstream to the old iron bridge at the Siam community (long stretch of flat water);
*approximately sixty minutes (one hour) to float to the first concrete bridge at the Hunter community (beginning of brief swift and punchy rapids on right bank);
*approximately ninety minutes to float to the concrete U.S. Highway 19E bridge and Carter Mansion(coming on fast rapids onto steep left bank) at Elizabethton, and;
*approximately one hundred twenty minutes (two hours) to float to the Blackbottom "take-out" in Elizabethton.The distance afloat from the put-in at Wilbur Dam to the Blackbottom take-out is approximately seven miles.

Movie filmed at the Bee Cliff

During 1989, many scenes from the Chuck Norris action film "" were filmed at the Bee Cliff and other Carter County sites:

*Filmed in the Philippines,Elizabethton, Tennessee, and other various Carter County, Tennessee locations such as Buck Mountain and the Bee Cliff. [ [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Cy668l1_zj4J:tennessee.gov/film/PDF/filmography2005.pdf+Elizabethton+%22Delta+Force+2%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us] ] The "Palace In The Sky" resort in Tagaytay was used as the setting for Ramon Cota's hideout. The interior set of the Cota's hideout (and the sets from many other interior scenes) from Delta Force 2 were actually constructed within the warehouse of former shampoo manufacturer in Elizabethton. Shampoo labels with a Elvis-like caricature for "Love Me Tender Shampoo" were found still attached to columns within the warehouse stage.

*A long shot showing the Colonel Scot McCoy character (played in the movie by Chuck Norris) climbing a towering cliff face in order to invade Ramon Cota's palace was filmed in the Philippines, but the accompanying close-up shot of McCoy pausing on the cliff face was actually shot at the river level base of the Bee Cliff with Norris and film crew aboard inflatable rafts while filming this close-up afloat on the Watauga River.

Bee Cliff Rapids

Difficulty of the rapids

Immediately before the Bee Cliff is an approximate one-hundred and fifty yard stretch of Class I and Class II whitewater rapids on the Watauga River known locally as the Bee Cliff Rapids (although some North Carolina river guides mistakenly refer to this run as the "Anaconda Rapids" [ [http://www.edgeoworld.com/summer/rafting.htm Edge of the World. "Whitewater Rafting on the beautiful Watauga River!"] ] ). The Bee Cliff Rapids are approximately 15 to 20 minutes downstream of the TVA Wilbur Dam "put-in" or launch.

On the left-hand (port) downstream side of the Bee Cliff Rapids (and on the opposite side of the Watauga River from the Bee Cliff) is a private, wooded area with trails --- utilized by commercial rating companies with paid landing permit --- running parallel with and further downstream from the Bee Cliff Rapids. Locals also refer to this particular wooded section of the Watauga River as "Bee Cliff'.

The classification of these rapids by the International Scale of River Difficulty at the Bee Cliff are largely dependent upon the scheduled release of impounded reservoir water from behind the Tennessee Valley Authority Wilbur and Watauga Dams. TVA runs a summer release schedule that frequently provides for what local river guides a "full load" conditions, meaning that the Bee Cliff Rapids can approach Class II and Class III (especially when the TVA is also releasing water over the Wilbur Dam spillways).

Water hazards

There are several minor water hazards at the Bee Cliff Rapids that paddlers should keep in mind:
*Personal flotation devices (life jackets) and water footwear are required;
*The water temperature is approximately 53° Fahrenheit (even during the summer months) as this impounded reservoir water being released from behind a dam;
*Be aware that the "Big Hole" (formed by water dropping over an underwater ledge) is found approximately 10 to 20 feet off the downstream port (left) bank near the end of the Bee Cliff Rapids;
*Rain and prevailing wind conditions through the Siam valley often create thick blankets of fog following moderate to heavy rain storms;
*Steep underwater slides are found in the center-to-starboard (right) downstream bottom section of the Bee Cliff Rapids that can easily flip a canoe end-over-end;
*A sharp-edged and small limestone bolder found above the waterline that has punctured inflatable rafts is located at the downstream starboard (right) bank immediately at the end of the Bee Cliff Rapids.

References

*gnis|1276768|Bee Cliff (Tennessee)
*PDF| [http://tennessee.gov/film/PDF/filmography2005.pdf Tennessee Film Commission. Tennessee Film/Videography 2005] |73.5 KiB
* [http://www.edgeoworld.com/summer/rafting.htm Edge of the World. "Whitewater Rafting on the beautiful Watauga River!"]

ee also

*Dragging Canoe
*Fort Watauga
*Overmountain Men
*Sycamore Shoals
*Watauga, Tennessee