Giant Salamanders

By Philip Ellis

I’ve been paddling and hiking in creeks and rivers my whole life. When I was young, I found amphibians to be the most interesting wetland creatures, and this held particularly true for salamanders — they are oddly charismatic in their small and slimy way. This is why, in my adult life, I was amazed to discover that a giant version of these animals existed: The Eastern Hellbender. And more exciting to me was that the Hellbender’s habitat is in clean mountain creeks of Southern Appalachia. Thus began my 14-year search.

Even if you spend a lot of time in mountain streams, Hellbender sightings are rare, especially for an impatient whitewater enthusiast like me. It seems that the slower and more methodical explorer has a higher chance of encountering these shy little dragons.

Tropical storm Fred brought a torrential downpour onto the Balsam Mountains in August of 2021, causing floods and extensive damage to towns like Canton and Rosman, NC. After this flood event, I was paddling on the North Fork of the French Broad River. It was there, in-between two classic rapids (Boxcar Falls and Diagraslide) that I stumbled across this 18-inch-long beauty. The giant salamander was clinging to the gorge wall, blending in spectacularly. I stepped over it a couple times before looking down and jolting with joy at the sighting.

This sighting was even more impressive because of the destruction from the Fred-induced flood: boulders had moved, bedrock was scoured clean, a waterfall (Submarine Falls) had collapsed and propagated upstream a few dozen feet, and the storm even mobilized some old steel rail from the floodplain (this steel rail was left from logging operations over 100 years ago). Seeing these massive geomorphic changes to the creek made it clear that Hellbender habitat was also disrupted. Even though tropical storms are a natural occurrence, it is hard to imagine such a finicky species surviving a flood because Hellbenders tend to live in clean cobble-bed streams using larger boulders for refuge. Nonetheless, there it was, resting on the side of the gorge, waiting for the water to recede, and waiting for me to stop gawking.

Shallow, clear rocky streams in western North Carolina like this one are prime habitat for Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis)

Paddling Submarine Falls