Big Creek

I was blessed with the luck to discover this creek on a scouting trip this spring. Of all the creeks that I have run, this one is definitely my favorite. It has absolutely beautiful scenery. It rests in a deep gorge that is hidden from the road and it travels down a riverbed that is about 50% pure bedrock. It passes two high cascade waterfalls, has relatively sparse pollution for a WV stream, and butts up against a huge overhanging cliff wall for a few hundred feet. This stream’s accolades do not stop there however. It is fairly channelized which allows it to be run at lower water and it is pool-drop in nature which allows for some breathing in between the rapids. The only negative things that I found with this creek are that the put-ins and take out are all on private property.

When I ran this creek it was at the absolute minimum level. I had to walk the parts where the creek spread out in rock gardens. The Greenbrier at Hilldale was running somewhere in the 10-12 foot range and was dropping fast, but like all creeks the best gauge is visual, you just have to see it. Also remember that this creek is channelized so make sure that it is really too low before you walk away from a great creek.

Directions to this creek are fairly straightforward. It is just outside of Hinton on Rt. 3 alongside the Greenbrier River. If you are coming from Hinton it will be your first left across an old single-lane bridge crossing the Greenbrier on CR 13. Follow this road until you get to CR 10 - Big Creek Rd. The take out vehicle should be parked alongside the road here but there is little room. I ran it solo and just hid my boat in the weeds and walked the two miles back up to where I put in. You might want to consider doing this unless you can talk one of the local landowners into letting you park on their property. Going up Big Creek road you will get an idea of how much elevation the creek drops from how steep the road is. The creek is in the gorge on your right. Foll

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