Crab Orchard is a good run to consider when other streams on the Cumberland Plateau are too high. It's a longer run through remote-feeling terrain, and requires solid class 3 skills. It starts at a small bridge with a painted gauge on it, on WMA road. (Put-in: 35°58'09.9'N 84°40'12.2'W). The 10.7 miles of creek takes 3+ hours to run without extensive surfing or carnage, and the 3 miles on the Emory adds another half hour at least. The gradient of nearly 45 feet per mile mentioned in one guidebook may be correct, with the gradient concentrated at the bottom end of the run where it becomes more continuous. There are few steep drops.
The first couple of miles are fairly flat, and then the whitewater gradually ramps up. Maybe 1/4 mile after a small private bridge there's a rapid with an undercut cave on the right, and there are more walls like this with water sliding underneath. The structure of the riverbed is typical of the region with sandstone cliffs lining the banks, boulders creating nice eddies and catching logs, and sloping ledges making fine play features. The run gets more continuous in the final 4 miles with long sections that move fast, and lots of lovely playwaves.
At high flows people may launch closer to the Emory confluence at a bridge on Deermont Road (here: 35°58'09.9'N 84°40'12.2'W), for the surfing.
The biggest hazard on this run has to be wood and brush. It is small enough that it could be bridged at any point, and at the higher flows the water goes through the forest. On tight bends the rhododendron overhangs the water and you must navigate tight slots to stay out of it. Launching at the Deermont bridge avoids the tightest and brushiest parts of the creek, but you also miss many miles of delightful read and run water and a few blinder drops.
A favorite stopping spot is at a large overhang on river left that is downstream from the iron mine on the left. Below this point the whitewater picks up. Another good stopping spot is at a cleared Christian Camp on river right, well past halfway. From here down it's surf time.
There are a few larger horizons that could be worth scouting, and there are many places where a small side channel might be the preferred route. Go with a person who knows the run your first time or two--unless you're prepared to spend a full day scouting and getting yourself out of pickles. Even the locals who enjoy this run only go 1-2 times per year because it is hard to catch with good flows and there are lots of other good creeks running when this one is in.
There is no online gauge on this creek, so folks use the Emory gauge to know if the area has gotten enough rain. One local boater says he won't drive up there unless the Emory at Oakdale reads 8,000-12,000cfs. If the Oakdale gauge says 8,000 and is falling, it could easily be too low, so you want 8,000 and rising. The flow when it's 12,000 and falling might be only medium--this is by no means a maximum. The good news is that if you drive up there and the water level is too low, there are lots of other options. If it's too high, you may have to wait for the pulse of water to pass before you find a reasonable run.
The guidebooks say that 2.5 on the put-in bridge painted gauge is the maximum level for this creek. As always, maximums are subjective, but the run is likely good to go for a class 4 boater at any flow, as long as you are prepared to do battle with the brush and wood. The surfing is epic at higher flows, and the 3 miles on the Emory goes fast.
Pretty much everybody agrees that 1 foot, or 1.1 on the put-in gauge is a reasonable minimum. People who have run it below 1 foot will not do so again.
At the Oakdale takeout the easiest way to get to the parking area is to paddle and/or wade up the creek under the railroad tracks, then take the get-out on the left to carry across the road because it's hard to climb out of the creek at the parking area. Word to the wise.