Rocky Fork Creek

Paddled the entire length of this creek. Note that there are TWO mandatory portage mill dams. I knew about the one at Barrett Mills, but was NOT expecting the one at OH 753. The portage at OH 753 was strenuous to say the least. I would recommend skipping the upper portion and putting in at Barretts Mills as suggested by others on this page, thereby avoiding both dams. The interesting scenery is all downstream of Barretts Mills anyway.

I would also suggest getting input from the folks at Rocky Fork State Park as to whether they are planning any water flow changes at the lake dam in the time frame you are planning to paddle the creek. I watched the USGS gauge, it was reading 600cfs when i left my house. In the hour that it took me to drive there, they had apparently restricted the outflow from the lake, because the flow was down to less than 125 cfs. This made for a rather slow bumpy trip.

Final note: right before you reach the arch, there was a brand new (leaves still green) strainer completely blocking the river left channel (only channel available at low flow). A short portage was required on river right over and under a jumble of logs. At higher flows, this jumble of logs would be blocking the river right channel, so the portage might be a bit more challenging.