Paint Creek

My family and I used two inflatable kayaks (Sea Eagle 330 and 370) to go from just below Barrett Mill dam on Rocky Fork to SR 41 on Paint Creek in Bainbridge. The flow on Rocky Fork was at 150 CFS during our entire run. At that flow I got stuck once in a 3-4 foot section and felt myself scrape over a rock about 5 other times. Paint Creek was at 390 CFS. Same as Rocky Fork, we got stuck a couple of times and hit a few rocks. I am sure my inflatable kayak and my 210 lbs has a deeper draft than most other kayaks. My wife’s boat rarely had any trouble. She and my youngest son did get stuck at the section labeled above as “Chutes (Class III, Mile 2.5)”. The flow on the left was fun with plenty of water but not enough water was flowing over the ledge and they missed the left. Luckily, they managed to wiggle over the ledge without getting dumped sideways. The ledge listed above as “Falls (Class III+, Mile 6.0)” was the most fun of the day and worth all the paddling in the couple of flat miles leading up to it. We used what was referred to as the “sneak line” on the right and it was clearly the biggest rapid of the day. We intended to use the Church parking as our take out location but they now have it gated. We instead took out on the South side and parked along the access road but very near SR 41 since there are a couple of houses at the end of the road. Once you approach the area one will notice a couple of spots along this section where fishermen have created trails down to the river. Taking out there would be a bit more trouble at higher water levels since the water is flowing fairly fast at the SR 41 bridge. Other than the fast flow near SR 41 the river only offers paddling after the 6 mile ledge for the next 1.5 miles.