Briggs Creek

This is a high flow, from snowmelt. Use the three gauges shown here to get a feel for what Briggs is doing.

March 31, 2018

This is about as high as Briggs should be run. Any higher and the entrance to The Brig would become unscoutable/unportageable on top of the exit. This is also almost about to the flow where the exit ledge from The Brig starts getting into the questionable zone.

3400>3000 cfs 3/25/18

3400 cfs

3/25/2018

Looking upstream from the take out at medium flows.

Large rapid at the entrance to The Brig, medium flows of 3,000 cfs in the Illinois @ Kerby. Nov 17, 2017

A typical rapid on Briggs Creek. Nov 17, 2017

Brandon Lake hits the boof to escape The Brig. This final ledge in The Brig is tough to scout and not portageable. Fortunately, at normal flows it is a pretty manageable ledge. At high flows, the hole gets sticky.

May 5, 2017

This is the largest rapid on the run. The first tier (pictured here) can be portaged on the right, the second tier lands paddlers into The Brig.

The rapid is created by a landslide, which makes a good marker.

Put in at Brushy Bar, take out at Briggs Creek Campground. Note the proximity to Miami Bar (The put in for the Wild and Scenic section of the Illinois).

The roads shown on the map represented by dashed lines are drivable by high clearance vehicles only, 4WD may also be necessary if the ground is wet. A Subaru can make it to Oak Flat, but not much further.

The road connecting Briggs Creek Campground and Brushy Bar (passing near School Flat) was passable by a Nissan Xterra in 2017 in 2WD under dry conditions.

This photo was taken from the footbridge at Briggs Creek Campground. There are two rocks used for flow measurement that are circled with their meaning in the photo.

Ideal flows would probably have some water spilling over the point of the triangle rock, but not so much that you could boof over that point without the rock slowing you down.

Photo taken at a minimal enjoyable flow on May 5, 2017

This photo was taken looking upstream from the footbridge at Briggs Creek Campground. This was a minimally enjoyable, fun flow.

May 5, 2017

Brandon Lake enters The Brig, a short section near the end of the run where portage and scout options diminish. Fortunately, if you have made it this far the rapids will all be straight forward aside from the final one. The exit rapid is sticky at high water, but the 5-10' ledge can safely be boofed off the rock in the center at medium and low flows.

A lot of Briggs Creek looks like this.

May 5, 2017