Bailey Creek, Illinois, US
|
|
N2300 Rd to Vermilion River (0.5-1.5 miles) (Bailey Falls)
| Usual Difficulty |
I-II(IV) (varies with level) |
| Length |
1.15 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient |
60 fpm |
| Max Gradient |
70 fpm |
Running Bailey Falls
Running Bailey FallsPhoto of uncertain by John Meredith taken 03/29/07
Gauge Information
| Name |
Range |
Difficulty |
Updated |
Level |
|
VERMILION RIVER NEAR LEONORE, IL
|
|
usgs-05555300 |
8.50 - 12.00 ft
|
I(IV) |
00h47m |
~ 5.82
ft
(rc= -0.4 ) |
Probably too low. (Requires on-site confirmation.) Reference gauge is for Vermilion, and is only an indicator of possible runnability. |
River Description
Quick Facts:
Location: 2 miles SouthEast from Oglesby, or 5 miles SouthEast from LaSalle.
Shuttle Length: usually carry-up, 2/3 of a mile. (See details in description below.)
Character: A steep (not quite vertical) waterfall, and runout.
Put-in is approximately 539' elevation.
Take-out is approximately 469' elevation.
Thus total elevation change is approximately 70'.
General Overview
Bailey Creek is a tributary of the Vermilion. While it can be done on its own (using the put-in
listed on this description name), the section above the falls is nothing but strainers with knee
deep mud portages (I know from experience.) Thus, more often it is done as a side-trip while
doing the run on the Vermilion.
Look for the mouth of Bailey Creek on river left, a third of a mile downstream of Wildcat Rapid.
The hike up is about two-thirds of a mile on decent trail. The land is on Lonestar Cement Company
property. They generally don't mind non-motorized use of their land, but please be
respectful of it. From a gravel beach just past the mouth of the creek, go up the hill about
seventy-five feet to a dirt road. Turn right (yes, away from the creek) and go another eighty
feet to a small path ascending to the left. After 150 yards this path encounters a dirt road.
Double back to the left on this, and hike a quarter-mile to a fork in the path. The left fork
here leads down to a large culvert in the river (referred to in the river description below),
therefore bear right at this fork and continue another quarter-mile to the falls. (Partway along
this stretch, a path/road heads off to your right and sharply uphill. You do not want to go that
way.)
There is about a hundred yards of whitewater leading up to the falls. Unless the creek is quite
high, I wouldn't bother with it, it's just too scrapy.
Bailey Falls drops about twenty feet total, in a horse shoe waterfall. It is not quite vertical,
perhaps 70 degrees or so. Before running it, take a good look at the landing zone. It is inches
deep at best. Running it means trusting a small roostertail to cushion your impact. DO NOT pencil
in on this one. A small, steep trail leads back to the top on river right for anyone wanting to
carry up to run it again. Oh, and . . . there is not any easy or convenient way (on river-left,
where you'll be) to get to the base of the falls. There are sheer walls surrounding the 'pool'.
So, if you have carried your boat up to here and decide not to run the falls, you have to decide
if you are comfortable lowering or tossing your gear into the pool below and either attempting to
climb down or jump in after it. Otherwise, you will have to hike about 250 yards back downriver
before the bluff diminishes enough that you can reach the river from river-left. Unfortunately,
this gives you a very brief swift paddle before the serious hazard downstream at the culvert.
From the pool below the falls, there is a few hundred yards of ducking strainers and sweepers
before the culvert. An ugly log jam completely blocks any reasonable possibility of
running the culvert. No good eddy exists, so you must be very good and very careful to avoid the
current pushing you hard and fast into the log jam. Generally this is portaged on
river-right. Putting in below the culvert, at some flows there is a nice play hole in its
outflow.
Downstream, several hundred yards of easy riffles lead to Pickup Rapid and the confluence with
the Vermilion. There is a narrow channel between a river right rock and a rusted, jagged old
vehicle laying in the creek bed. Stay as far right as possible, or portage this one, before
continuing downstream on the Vermilion.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2009-12-13 14:46:06
Editors
Bailey Falls
User Comments
only a few rifts to deal with. If you drive far to the right, you will be able to hit a launching
pad, get some air and land under the veil formed by the cascade coming off the right wall. If you
have a vivid imagination, you can pretend that you are on the launching pad on the final pitch of,
"Skyscraper" as you get launched, and then, "Gorrilla" as you go under the veil. Then you can get
back to reality as you go into Olgelsby and hang out at Mr. Salsa and talk about how Roy barely
missed the old tires, garbage and logs floating around in the bottom re-circ. MM Edit
of kayakers and will do anything to try and have you arrested. A paddling group was at wildcat when
one of the party injured their shoulder. About 150 feet below wildcat, a trail goes up the cliff
wall, where the injured partner waited while the rest of us finished the river. We went to go get
him when we encountered one of the "landowners" who have an easement on the Mining Companies land.
We were chewed out for being there and told to get the hell out or be arrested. We had to call
Illinois State Police and an ambulance to retrieve our injured partner. After that, we went to the
put-in to get one of our vehicles when THIS TRUCK PULLS UP. The man inside told us that if we were
seen on that road again we would be arrested. This guy doesn't care about anyone using the river
and will try to get anyone in a kayak arrested for trespassing on the mine's land. Watch out for
him. Happy Paddling. (Original report edited slightly to remove potentially problematic content.)