Caesar Creek, Ohio, US

Caesar Creek Lake to Little Miami River

surfin' in the cold

surfin' in the cold
Photo by Ron M

Gauge Information

River Description

Gwen English provides (2004-08-30 11:50:19):

To the putin: From Waynesville, take Route 73 east, crossing Route 42. Turn right onto Clarksville Road, turn right into the "gorge". If you cross over the dam, you've gone too far.

From the putin to the takeout: Come back up out of the "gorge", turn left onto Clarksville Road, turn left onto Middletown Road (before you get back to Route 73)and follow it down the hill where it deadends at Corwin Road. Turn left onto Corwin Road. After crossing Caesar Creek (the bridge is the takeout), turn left into a park/parking area and park there.

I would call this no more than a low class II, but it is a fun run. The ony thing to watch out for is possible strainers and low-hanging branches.

Low water runs are possible at a little over 6' on the gauge at which the river is an easy class 2.  There is some easy play and quit a few good spots for beginner whitewater boaters to practice ferries, eddy turns, and such.  At higher levels (9'+) many of the features wash out and some decent sized wave trains appear.   At flood levels even the wave trains start to wash out and thoughts of swimming start to look pretty ugly due to the push of water into the trees.
 

Be careful of strainers (especially near the take out bridge), the right side is mostly blocked but the center and left are still open. 
 

Scenery is quite nice through the entire run and the water quality is decent (spills from the bottom of Caesar Creek lake).  You'll see lots of fishermen on low water days so please give them room, they typically are only on the first and last 1/2 mile or so of the river. 
Ron Metzger (5/15/19)