N2300 Rd to Vermilion River (0.5-1.5 miles) (Bailey Falls)Class I-II(IV)
1.5 Miles
Avg Gradient 23 fpm
Max Gradient 80 fpm
Bailey Falls
Bailey Falls Photo of Dave Bennett by Phil Roxworthy Gauge Information
Bailey Creek
River DescriptionBailey Creek is a tributary of the Vermilion. It enters about a quarter mile downstream of Wildcat Rapid, on river left. There is a gravel beach just past the mouth of the creek. The section above the falls is nothing but strainers with knee deep mud portages (I know from experience.)The hike up is about a half mile of decent trail. This 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 the beach, go up the hill about fifty feet, and you will see a dirt road. Turn right, away from the creek, and go about a hundred yards to a small path to the left. Bear left at the end of this path, onto another dirt road. Hike a quarter mile and turn right at the fork. Follow this to the falls. There is about a hundred yards of whitewater leading up to the falls. Unless the creek is 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. From the pool below the falls, there is a few hundred yards of ducking sweepers before the next hazard, the culvert. Portage the culvert and its ugly log jam on river right. No good eddy exists, so please be careful. Put in below the culvert. At some flows there is a nice play hole in its outflow. Several hundred yards of easy riffles lead to Pickup Rapid. 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. This drop leads into the Vermilion River, where you can continue down stream. StreamTeam Status: unverified
Last Updated: 2006-11-30 16:40:34
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VERMILION RIVER NEAR LEONORE, IL [ IL ] |
Current Conditions
Station Graphs |
| Level Legend: | Running | Below Minimum Recommended Flow | Above Maximum Recommended Flow | Unknown |
| State | River Name/Section | Class | Level | Rel. Level | Updated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IL | Bailey Creek— N2300 Rd to Vermilion River (0.5-1.5 miles) | I-II(IV) | 4.05 ft* | low | 7/24 19:45 | |
| IL | Vermilion— Cty Rd just NW of Hwy 178 to Oglesby Cutoff (Cty 23) (7.7 miles) | II-III | 255 cfs | low | 7/24 19:45 |
| AW Gauge ID: | 2494 |
| USGS Station: | 05555300 |
| HUC: | 07130002 |
| Latitude: | 41.2083 |
| Longitude: | -88.9308 |
| Class: | -1 |
User Comments |
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2008-06-04 11:38:26 (50 days ago)
what class is this rapid.. how hard would it be to run for a novice class II-III paddler?
The problem is the landing. It can be very shallow in the landing zone. This demands that you have a good boof. Most class II-III boaters do not have a good boof. Most class II-III boaters get a little tripped out when they come to a lip that is as knarly as this one. If you flip before the lip, you are going to mess up your face or your shoulder. Finally, after the landing there is a bit of a wave and a hole as well as water coming in from the side in a reactionary manner. Most class II-III boaters will get flipped and some will get caught in a bit of an eddy fence on river left. If this happens, you need someone who can get a rope to you. Most class II-III boaters will not be able to get a rope to you because they will be working very hard with both hands on the paddle just to cross the pile. I have seen a couple of class 4 and class 5 boaters work a little just to get there themselves.
Having said all this, if you were standing next to me at the top, I would tell you to go for it! Its just the way I role. Edit
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2007-08-29 03:45:56 (330 days ago)
At 14 ft. the landing on Baily falls becomes a nice pillow. The lead up is not too bad as there are only a few rifts to deal with. If you drive far to the right, you will be able to hit a launching pad and 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 going off the final drop 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
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2007-08-27 10:31:04 (332 days ago)
BEWARE: Watch out for the "landowner" that lives on river left of Wildcat Rapids!!! As of 8/26/2007 he drives a newer red Ford F-150 with Illinois plates 58 565 K. He is not a fan of kayakers and will do anything to try and have you arrested. The story goes my paddling group was at wildcat when one of our party injured their shoulder. About 150 feet below wildcat, a trail goes up the cliff wall, where we drug our injured partner's boat up to and had him wait there. When 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 retreive 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 and if possible, give him some kayaker justice. Happy Paddling. Edit
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No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
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