Deckers Creek, West Virginia, US

Pioneer Rocks (Gas Line pullout (rt 7) to Junkyard Pullout (rt 7))

Jay through the Teeth

Jay through the Teeth
Photo of Jay Moffat by JB Seay

Gauge Information

River Description

For a Go Pro helmet cam video of Deckers Creek, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRcwW2Bs-rU

Latitude, Longitude data are approximate.

Deckers Creek is a fun and challenging run, just a few miles from the interstate and the University. Just because it is roadside does not mean it is light duty, however. The streambed is littered with sieves, and most of the vertical drops have a cave behind them.

That said, if you know this run, you can get a lap in before work or class, and it is a great resource for Morgantown area paddlers.

Here's what Bobby Miller has to say about Decker's after his first run several years ago:
"Here is my personal opinion on Deckers. I think that run is very hard and very scary. My impressions were that you could die about 5 ways in every rapid. I was scared on it (which doesn't happen a lot). Granted, I ran everything so that makes it a lot scarier but still it is very scary. I think that the Upper Blackwater is not even in the same class as Deckers. Deckers has harder rapids and more and bigger sieves. The creeks in Canaan are way more user-friendly (Otter, North Fork) with not so many undercuts to catch you if mess up. My opinion of Deckers is that it is a run for top creekers (guys who dominate easy creeks like the North Fork and Upper B) in top condition. It opened my eyes and got my heart ticking. I enjoyed Deckers but it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I was so worried about falling into the ugly caves and sieves that litter the run that I really couldn't sit back and enjoy as much as I hoped. I think I prefer to either not have the sieves around when I boat or not know they are there. Just my opinion."

Conservation organization: check out Friends of Deckers Creek.