Bear Creek (Dekalb Co.),
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|
Upper: CR 78 to Canyon Rim Road
| Usual Difficulty |
II-III+(IV) (may vary with level) |
| Length |
3.68 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient |
72 fpm |
| Max Gradient |
105 fpm |
(RM) Fort Payne Transit
(RM) Fort Payne TransitPhoto of John Reeves by Robert Maxwell @ 11
River Description
This is a fine run for those days when everything else in the area is just too high.
The action starts just around the corner from the put-in with a long, medium-angle slide that had
several badly placed trees towards the bottom. Another larger slide follows soon after. It has a
small cable strung across the river at it's base that presents a obvious hazard. The next slide is
marked by a metal foot bridge. It is a long high speed twisting affair into a pool (class IV). The
last large drop is marked by a big horizon line. This is the largest drop on the run -- a sliding
lead into a 25 to 30 foot, 70 degree falls into a decent pool (Class IV+).
Below here the river enters a half mile gorge of good boogie water with a couple of sections
approaching class IV. The river passes under a bridge below the gorge (this is not the take-out --
the next bridge at the Canyon Rim Road is.)
This run has a lot of trees in it. Many of them have to be portaged, this makes the run take longer
than would be expected. At the recomended levels there is not much slack water on this run. Many of
the eddies are of the "grab a tree branch, upstream of the tree blocking the stream" type.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2004-07-15 22:13:55
No guide books for this stream. If you know of a book that describes this stream please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
User Comments
Bear Creek looses its gradient in large chunks! If you arent paddling flat water or portaging
downed trees, you are dropping over one of the 5 big drops.
The put in on County Road 78 is privately owned by a police officer. He has requested that boaters
not use his yard for parking, to avoid rutting the yard. Otherwise, he has no problem with putting
in at the bridge. The best bet for parking is at the Auto Body Shop, which is within sight of the
put-in. Over all, the land owners are nice but weary of boaters. I suggest that you change at the
take-out, organize the boats on as few cars as possible then head for the put-in. Ask permission to
park at the Auto Body Shop a few $$s might help. Then get on the creek quickly and keep a low
profile.
When we ran Upper Bear Creek, the Bear Creek gage was 11. When we took off, it was 8. The level was
a bear minimum (no pun intended) for the run. I'd suggest 15 is probably a good low.
The run really needs to be cleaned out. There are about 6 tree portages to deal with. However, all
the property along the banks is privately owned. So, doing this wouldnt be prudent.
If you are lucky, Mr. Fox, one of the land owners, will try to warn you off the run. Stories of
being discharged from the military for being crazy, shooting at neighbors, and neighbors who shoot
first and ask questions later are among his repertoire. Most of the rapids were named for a half
hour (rather scary) conversation I had with him.
This is a good run when everything else is flooded and can be easily combined with a regular Bear
Creek run or you can go run Upper Johnnies Creek. If Upper Bear Creek is running Upper Johnnies
will also run.
The rapids are:
Cop Drop - Class 3- Mile 0.1
Fox Falls - Class 4 - Mile 0.3 - has the cable running across the bottom of the last drop
Shotgun - Class 3- Mile 0.7 - marked by the private bridge crossing the creek at the top.
Ft. Payne Transit - Class 3- Mile 0.9 - 25 footer slide
Section 8 - Class 4 - Mile 1.1 - this one is a rock garden / jumble type of rapid. Very out of
character with the rest of the run.