Tinker's Creek, |
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| Usual Difficulty | IV-V (may vary with level) |
|---|---|
| Length | 4.65 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient | 50 fpm |
| Max Gradient | 120 fpm |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinkers Creek at Bedford OH | ||||
| usgs-04207200 | 400 - 1000 cfs | IV-V | 01h29m | 41 cfs (rc= -1.1 ) |
Runnable after heavy rain. Technical and playful, this is some of the funnest stuff in Ohio when
it's running.
AW Article from
5-6/1999, with pictures
Careful on this crick; there are pinning spots and strainers in unpredictable places.
Important: the park rangers are very polite and friendly. They won't give you a hard time
if your boat is registered in Ohoho. If you aren't registered, they can deny you
access. Registration is a dumb idea, in this humble StreamKeeper's opinion, but it's only $15
bucks for three years. If it prevents a hassle at the putin for the best whitewater in
Ohio, it's well worth it.
Directions: to putin: From I-271, take the Exit 23 (Route 14, Broadway Ave). Head West
(left, if you're coming from the South) at the light. At the third light on Broadway (Union Ave.,
0.5 mi. from I-271), bear right to stay on Broadway. Another half a mile down, take a right onto
the park road just after the brick road. Pull into the parking area. If you get to the lights at
Union Street, you've gone too far.
To takeout: cross Broadway Ave (onto Egbert Road). The road twists a little, then
intersects with Union Street. Cross Union, and take the next Right at the sign saying "Park
Entrance, Bedford Reservation" onto Gorge Parkway. Follow this road as it twists and turns
around. Don't drive too fast!, especially on that downhill that's marked as 20 MPH. Just before
the T intersection with Dunham Road, pull off and park on the right.
Alternate takeout: just before the Canal Road structure upstream of the Ohio Canal. Make sure
that you scout this takeout carefully, because you don't want to blunder into the structure.
There's a good eddy-beach on river right. To get there, cross Dunham Road and head down Tinker's
Creek Road on river right. Hang a left onto Canal Road. This takeout is not preferred, because it
adds a couple of miles of flatwater in the floodplain. I've done it once, out of curiosity, and
I'm in no hurry to do it again.
To the gauge: On Broadway, continue past the putin road. Take a Left onto Taylor Road. (If
you get to the lights at Union St., you've gone too far.) Cross Union Street and park in the lot
at the Moonglow Cafe. You can see the gauge clearly through the trees from this parking lot. Stop
in at the Moonglow for a beer if you haven't breathed your fill of secondhand cigarette smoke
lately.
For historical / local info, check out Tinker's Creek Viaduct Park.
Fun Fact: There are lots of deer here. Many have a mottled "piebald" coat.
Fun Fact II: The First Descent of Tinker's Creek, as near as this author can determine, was by Keelhaulers Chuck Singer and Jon Reising in February, 1972. Because of the Tunnel, and all the strainers, they never ran it again. Tinker's main pioneers were probably Craig and Brian Homberg and Jim and Jeff Snyder, also in the 1970's.
Other related nearby streams:
Lower Cuyahoga (Class
I-II)
Lower Cuyahoga Gorge
(Class III)
Upper Cuyahoga Gorge
(Class V)
Chagrin River, Aurora
Branch (Class III-IV)
Chagrin River (Class
I)
Chagrin River, East
Branch (Class II)
Conservation Organization: check out the Friends of the Crooked River, who've been working on cleaning up the Cuyahoga (and its tributaries) and educating the public for 11 years.
The physical gauge is on the Union St. Bridge, upstream river left. (See description below for directions.) 0.0' is minimum; at 1.0', it's getting pushy. I've run it as high as 1.8', but it was very pushy.
If the above gage goes down, sometimes you can get an idea of whether or not it's running by comparing the upstream Cuyahoga at Portage with the downstream Cuyahoga at Independence gauges. That's the basis for the very approximate virtual Tinker's Creek Gage, which is now rendered obsolete by our friends at the USGS. If Independence isn't running at least a couple thousand cfs greater than Portage, you can probably forget about it.
New: check the AFWS Rain Gage -- Cuyahoga County for the last day's rain. A look at Solon (8312) will tell how much rain is heading toward Bedford. We have, as yet, no predictive model for Tinker's flow. I figure you need an inch or better in the recent 24-hour period, but that's mostly a SWAG. If the ground is wet, and the trees aren't drinking yet, half an inch can be enough.
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinkers Creek at Bedford OH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| usgs-04207200 | 400 - 1000 cfs | IV-V | 01h29m | 41 cfs (rc= -1.1 ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| When | River/Gauge | Subject | Level | Reporter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Tinker's Falls
|
0.5 ft | Matt Muir | |
| Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Not the Slot
|
0.9 ft. | Matt Muir | |
| Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Emerging from The Tunnel
|
n/a | Matt Muir | |
| Tinker's CreekPleasant Valley (Town of Bedford) to Tinker's reservation [OH] |
Gradient: Chippewa and Tinker's Creek, OH
|
n/a | Matt Muir | |
| 7y343d21h43m | Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Just A Hop to the Left
|
n/a | Matt Muir |
| > 10 years | Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Tickle Fingers!
|
0.6 ft | Matt Muir |
| > 10 years | Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Putin below Tinker's Falls
|
0.8 ft | Matt Muir |
| > 10 years | Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Slot Hole on Tinker's
|
0.8 ft | Matt Muir |
| > 10 years | Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Warm-up on Tinker's
|
0.8 ft | Matt Muir |
| > 10 years | Tinkers Creek [OH] |
The Tunnel
|
0.5 ft | Matt Muir |
| > 10 years | Tinker's Creek [OH] |
Handstand at Shale Hole
|
0.0 ft | Matt Muir |
No Comments
Add a Comment| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.8 | Tinker's Falls | 5.1 |     |
| 0.9 | The Tunnel | III+ | |
| 1.0 | Tight Slotz | IV+ | |
| 1.1 | Rockpile | IV | |
A waterfall that's an honest 20+ feet, and which lands on rocks if you're not online (hard to see what is "online" from above). I'd much rather run Big Splat than this badboy.
Lat/longitude coords of the rapids are from online maps, not GPS.
Probably only II difficulty, but Class-V fun! This viaduct was built ca. 1890 to support a railroad bridge. The Tunnel is 512 feet long, 20 feet high and 40 feet wide; it takes a bend to the left halfway through, so there's no straight path for light to the end. Better stay upright through the reflection waves in there, as it's pretty shallow. It gets a bit dark, and it slopes downhill, so you're accelerating all the way. When you emerge, you face a steep water slide, shoving you inexorably into a huge wall-o-water hole. This is the fastest you'll have been in a kayak, if you haven't run Oceana. Luckily for you, the hole isn't a keeper. It might flip you as it spits you out; but it will spit you out.
There's some narrow, technical stuff here, and the water gets fast, especially at high water. If you can make the tough ferry, river-left is easier; otherwise, hold your line and your brace through a boof before you head left. Be prepared to read holes on the fly, and be on the alert for strainers! There's been a vicious river-wide, double-tree strainer at the end of this rapid since 1997. Luckily, weather keeps making this tree combo a little less dangerous.
River Alert
State News
River Links
NWRI - Tinker's Creek Pleasant Valley (Town of Bedford) to Tinker's reservation (mobile)
