Robert Farmer's Directions: You'll most-likely want an atlas to find this one. Many roads in this
area are unmarked; when they are marked, they don't always agree with the atlas, but the atlas at
least gives you place names. The creek is northeast of Grafton. Take 50 to CR 7 toward Irontown and
Independence. The bridge that you will cross about 2.0 miles west of Independence is the
recommended takeout. To scout the creek, drive upstream on river left. To drive to Three Forks,
drive 2.0 miles east from the takeout to Independence, turn left and drive north for 3.5 miles.
This bypasses Fortney MIll. If you drive to the bridge at Fortney Mill, this road will lead north
to Gladesville, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. South from the church leads to Fortney Mill; east
leads to Three Forks. When driving south from Three Forks to Independence, turn right at the stop
sign in Independence, and take the right fork. This is unmarked, or marked differently from the
map. Edit

Robert Farmer---Did this 12/16/07. Level was @ 8.5/1900. It seemed high and pushy---the flat
sections moved along nicely. I put in at Three Forks bridge. From here to the next, second bridge
at Fortney's Mill (unmarked), there is only one trivial rapid, maybe Class 2, and also one
peculiar, massive log jam against an anomalous rock. The ledge at the second bridge is 80% blocked
by logs, leaving only small channels on the far left and far right; I chose right. I had a perfect
line with good momentum, but inexplicably lost all of my momentum about 3 feet from the lip of the
5-foot ledge, apparently due to some funky currents. This was quite distressing. As I boofed as
hard as I could, I had visions of dying in the keeper hydraulic in the center of the creek. My tail
was sucked down, backendering me slightly, and I was surfed toward the center. I paddled like Grim
Death himself was grabbing ahold of my rear grabloop, and I made it out, but it was too close. I'd
call it Class 5. I recommend a portage. Below here, some mystery cross-currents backendered me and
tossed me around (Class 4). There was a constant barrage of fun waves. I boat-scouted the second
ledge, starting center with a strong right angle---easy Class 3 if you're on-line, harder if you
miss. I believe that this was downstream of the third bridge, at Victoria, which is a somewhat
worn-down neighborhood. Fast water leads to the third ledge, which can be run left or right; I
chose left, having scouted it from my car earlier. This is adjacent to a lovingly-landscaped home
on river left. Easy rapids lead to the takeout (fourth) bridge, which is on the main road (CR 7)
northeast of Grafton. When I did it, there was a bit of a blizzard going on, which made the creek
feel serious, but I'll bet that it could be quite fun at low levels in warm weather for novice
boaters, portaging the first drop. This creek is suitable for a wide range of boaters, from
beginners to experts, depending on the level and the weather. It took me about an hour, but I was
paddling steadily to stay warm in the sub-freezing cold. Groups in warm weather would probably want
at least two hours, and more to play around. Fortney's Mill is a popular swimming hole at low
levels in the summer. I'll post directions later. Edit