White Creek (Morgan County)

I soloed this in an open boat on Saturday, 07/22/23 from Twin Bridges to Barnett Bridge. I've been paddling for 35 yrs & always wanted to do this one, but passed it up for better rapids/runs. At 50, I thought 7.5 miles of class I-II was a good fit. I was pushing it. I never flipped but it was more than I expected. I biked the 8 mile shuttle. The scenery is exceptionally beautiful. It is truly paddling in a wilderness.

Old guide books and online information have this as class I-II. I expected class I with a handful of class IIs thrown in for fun. That is not the case. I would rate 15+ of the rapids class II, with many back to back to back. Throw in the willow jungles and partial log jams/strainers and this is an intermediate run.

The AWA website has the low cfs as 650cfs. I put on mid afternoon at 610 cfs (below recomended) and took out at 500 cfs. It was a perfect amount of water. Other trips reports mention 350 cfs being low and rocky, but doable. I agree. I could have run it even lower in a 16 ft open boat.

I never had to get out of my boat to scout or protage. There were no complete log jams or strainers. A mile below Twin Bridge, there is a tree across the creek blocking 95% of the creek from river left. There is a tiny sneak on far river right that is barely the width of a canoe that I got down. I boat scouted all the rapids, large rocks,

and blind turns for trees/strainers and always had a clear path in the end. That was my day. Your day could easily be different.

Most class II are below Hwy 62 bridge. There is one I would rate class II+. It is a zigzag through boulders, drops, and cross currents, like the rest, but ends in a very rocky ledge with no clear path though the ledge.

When I collected my bike at Twin Bridges at dusk after the run, I had an unpleasant encounter with locals swimming that I talked my way through. They were partying on a Saturday night and had a lot of questions. It felt like it could have gone either way depending on thier mood. I'm glad it went well.

Ran on 05-10-09 (Mother's Day) from Twin Bridge to Lavender Bridge at 880 cfs in hand paddles. This section of White Creek is 3 miles and rarely has enough water to run or if it does, paddlers choose the more familiar and difficult class runs like Jett to Lilly or Lilly to Nemo. A very fun run with only the 2 trees we could safely duck under. All other wood and debris had been washed away with the prior week's enormous 12,000 cfs flow. At this level (880 cfs), the rapids are Class II wave trains except for a single 2-foot drop. There were at least two surfing waves to play on, one mid-run and one at the take-out at the old Lavender Bridge. This takeout is river left and very steep, but great if you are in need of a cardiovascular workout! A very beautiful and important tributary to Clear Creek and the Obed River!

Ran again on 4/19/09 with lilly guage at 350cfs. A little low but doable. One log inside 1st mile. 2nd log is at end just before clr creek confl. go left and through crack in rock.

Ran the last 5 miles (old put in) on 4-6-08 lilly guage at 900cfs mostly clear. Just a couple of large logs, we were able to duck under them with no trouble. maybe some II+ at this level. very scenic.