Baird Creek
Moon Valley Drive to end of gradient (<0.5 mile)
| Difficulty | II+ |
| Length | 0.48 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 60 fpm |
| Gauge | Plum Creek Near Wrightstown, Wi |
| Flow Rate as of 156 days | 1 cfsstale data |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 16, 2025 |
River Description
Quick Facts:
Location: within Green Bay city limits, east from downtown.
Shuttle Length: 0.6 miles (carry up).
Drainage area at put-in: approximately 15.7 square miles.
Character: Intimate creek, in a park, with water sheeting across bedrock with short ledges.
Put-in is approximately 662' elevation.
Take-out is approximately 610' elevation.
Thus total elevation change is approximately 52'.
Nearby ('companion') runs (with drainages, for comparison): Bower Creek (14.8sq.mi.), School Creek (15 sq.mi.), Devil's River (36 sq.mi.), Neshota/West Twin (43 sq.mi.).
General Overview
This short reach lies entirely within a city park, through which there is a paved path plus a system of dirt trails for hiking and off-road biking. Put-in at Moon Valley Drive, just off of Baird Creek Road (with I43 passing overhead). A series of short ledges in this little creek will provide busy entertainment for whitewater boaters -- great fun if you have the skills and proper equipment, significant danger if you do not have the skills and healthy respect for the technical nature of this run at moderate-to-high flows! Caution is urged, as deadfalls and snags are common. Get out as soon as the gradient peters-out and deadfall becomes plentiful. This will maximize the fun, minimize the frustration and danger, and minimize the hike back to your vehicle. Carry up and do it again!
It is highly recommended (virtually mandatory!) to walk the whole reach before putting on, to be aware of the overhanging trees and snags and deadfall in the river, and carefully assess your ability to navigate the twists and turns. At virtually any boatable flow, there will be very few (and small) eddies. If you can't catch a 'one boat eddy' (or if you don't even know what that means), you should not be in a boat on this tiny creek! Any downed tree or substantial overhanging branch
...River Features
Put In
Park roadside on Moon Valley Drive, carry just upstream of bridge to put-in amid shrub willow at a little side drainage. This gives you a fine swiftwater lead-in to the bridge and the approach to the first real whitewater action.
Railroad Ledge
Another small ledge exists just before the creek passes under a railroad trestle. It may be possible to either catch a surf on-the-fly, or to catch the eddy (you'll have to be very aggressive to do so -- it's a small, short eddy).
OVERHANGING TREE!!!
After a very short distance along this wall (as the creek sweeps away from the wall, to the left), there's a tree on river-right which arches over and dips low over the center of the creek. Boaters will have to paddle aggressively to river-left to avoid being swept into this overhanging tree! (It may be neccesary to back-paddle, or turn bow upstream to do an 'upstream ferry' to slow yourself and give yourself time to avoid this potentially serious hazard!)
This is one of the reasons this run is strongly NOT recommeneded for casual recreational kayaks, rafts or touring canoes (canoes not specifically designed for whitewater boating). All such craft will lack the maneuverability to avoid this hazard!
Parking Lot Ledge
The last good ledge occurs where the new paved path nears the creek from the 'lower' parking lot. (There is also a small pull-through parking area just a bit upstream). There is a decent (not great, but decent) eddy here at good river levels, and experienced boaters may wish to do some surfs in the wave/hole. The feature is shallow, so don't expect more than surfs and flatspins.
Most boaters will get out here as you have run the best of the gradient. There is still a good amount of 'bobble water' downstream, but sooner or later you will encounter an impassible snag or deadfall. Since the creek is so narrow, swift, and twisty, you need to be very vigilant as you proceed. It is very easy to find yourself in a spot with no eddy and no good way to get out of the creek before being swept into a serious hazard. You do not want to get flushed into or under such a snag. Loss of equipment (paddles, boats, etc) is very likely, and injury or even loss of life is certainly possible! Again, this is why this creek should never be done by inexperienced boaters, or anyone in a raft, recreational kayak, or 'touring' canoe.
Strainers
Besides the sweepers (generally small overhanging twigs and branches), there are commonly strainers (larger branches and trees, still attached to shore by their roots) which occur randomly down this stretch.
Sweepers
Downstream of the Parking Lot Ledge, increasingly you have to be concerned with overhanging branches from trees and shrubs on shore ('sweepers'). Look well ahead, and plan well-ahead, to avoid becoming entangled in these. It takes considerable skill to keep from being swept into them and from having your paddle wrested from your hands if you are swept through them.
NOTE: The photo above is looking UPSTREAM ... the water is coming toward you, around a LEFT-HAND bend, where you will be swept toward these overhanging branches on the outside (river-right) of the bend in the creek.
Snags
And, to add insult to injury, randomly, wood which has fallen into the stream (branches, logs, and whole trees) will occasionally accumulate at random points.
Again, all these things will change year to year, month to month, even day to day! Every time flows go up to runnable levels, new areas of concern will arise, which is why (on something this narrow and continuous) it is virtually MANDATORY to walk the whole section of creek before putting on!
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportAccumulations of deadfall (branches, logs, and whole trees) randomly will occur in this creek.
Sweepers (relatively smaller branches from trees and shrubs on shore) randomly will occur in this creek.
Dead wood (branches, logs, whole trees) may hang up at random places in the creek. Sometimes they may align such that they are passable. More often, they will block your safe passage. Sometimes it may be possible (before your run) to carefully dislodge them from shore to let them float downstream (where they will likely hang up again somewhere else).
Right around the bend from the put-in, the first ledge can be a very sticky hole! (Photo is at a marginally boatable flow, when it is fairly benign.)
Just beyond the railroad and the vertical rock wall, for years and years, this tree has overhung the river. It is possible to make a strong move to the left to avoid the tree, but the current is pushing you hard and fast toward it!
Walking down from the Baird Creek Trail parking area, this is the view of the short ledges which occur there.
Strainers (branches and trees, generally still attached to shore) randomly will occur in this creek.
After passing under the railroad trestle, the creek takes a sharp turn to the left as it encounters a wall of rock. Just beyond this point, a tree overhangs the creek from the river-right bank. Skilled paddlers should be able to negotiate this obstacle, but it merits a look before putting in. Eddies are hard to find, and moderate-to-high flows may make avoiding it difficult.
This short (park-and-carry-up) run hosts a good number of short ledges such as seen in this photo. At good flows, some may provide a bit of repeat play (surfs and spins). All will be quite shallow, so no vertical moves, and any flips will likely result in contacting the bedrock bottom. Pools are generally short, so you'll have to be quite aggressive to stop and stay in the pool for any repeat play. Mostly, the run is fun to just bobble down some fine continuous in-town gradient.