Sugar Creek

Update - the put-in at 1200 N is rough access and is posted with signs. The best put-in is at 950 E but as of this summer is posted with no trespassing signs as well. We have received permission to launch here before but were unable to make contact with landowner this fall. There is no put-in at the railroad bridge so do not waste your time.

There is a large pile of wood building up under the railroad bridge as of 10/31/2021, so do be cautious through there.

Crawfordsville USGS gage is down (maybe due to dam removal) so I've been using Thorntown USGS gage. Have run this stretch at 1500 cfs up to 1800 and flow was great.

Really nice wave. It changed slight as the water rose from about 1200 to maybe 1700 while there. (I guess that was 3 ft to 4+ On the usgs gauge). The wave got wider and the foam pile got better as the river came up. Long feeder eddy. Hard to miss the eddy. Nice spot. 6-4-14

About 4 ft or 1700 cfs the wave was great. We paddled it from 1250 - 1700 over a few hours as it was rising. 6-4-14. Nice wave. Great eddy service to this wave on river right. The rest of the run was wave trains.

My buddy James & I had a great day on Sugar creek near Darlington on Sat. The level was around 800cfs. This is a good mid to low class 1 level with very nice surfing. We put in at County line Rd. between Darlington and Thorntown and took out at the covered bridge just west of Darlington. The upper part of this reach has some flat parts with riffles and some small rapids. The 'good stuff' kicks in at the RR Bridge, with some other class 1 stuff later. If you just want to surf and play then just put in at the RR Bridge and maybe look for higher levels (above 1000cfs).

Very Shallow hole. Good for teaching beginners how to side surf.

Still a shallow wave at 3.5 ft. Catch on the fly, with other nearby holes/waves that are catch on the fly as well.