Caney Fork River level at Buffalo Valley
Tennessee · Fishing & wading
Measured at USGS 03424860 — CANEY FORK AT STONEWALL · NWS forecast point STWT1
Reading taken · as of 58 min ago
Below normal — good wading, low and clear
At 819 CFS, this gauge is in the lowest quarter of the 15 years USGS has recorded for this date (2011–2026), at 47% of the 1,750 CFS median.
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Flow history at Buffalo Valley
Daily values from USGS 03424860, updated every 15 to 60 minutes; NWS forecast for STWT1 reissued through the day. Provisional.
About Caney Fork River at Buffalo Valley
In Tennessee, below Center Hill Lake. Releases can change the flow by hundreds of CFS in an hour with no rain in the basin — check it the morning you go, not the night before. Center Hill tailwater; Nashville's closest trout water.
Reservoir feeding this stretch
Flow here is set by releases from Center Hill Lake. A full pool usually means more water on its way down.
Caney Fork River at Buffalo Valley — common questions
3 questions
How do releases from Center Hill Lake affect this stretch?
Directly and fast. When the dam generates, flow here can climb by an order of magnitude within the hour, with no rain anywhere in the basin. That sudden release is the real hazard on a tailwater. The pool level is on lakelvl.com, linked below.
Is Caney Fork River at Buffalo Valley high or low for this time of year?
The USGS median flow for late September here is 1,750 CFS, from 15 years of record (2011–2026). Today sits in the lowest quarter of those years, at 47% of the median. The comparison is what makes the raw number mean anything: the same reading is a drought on one river and a flood on another.
How often does this reading update?
USGS transmits from gauge 03424860 every 15 to 60 minutes, and the National Weather Service reissues the flood forecast for STWT1 a few times a day — more often when the river is rising. This page refreshes from both when you open it. The timestamp is in the gauge's local time.