Hicks Creek

Hicks Creek is one of the more surprising micro-creek/flood runs in the Little River Canyon area. It is a tributary of “Teddy” Bear Creek, with a character all its own. Its gradient is given up in a blur of tightly packed broken ledge drops and quick moving boogie water with few eddies.

Within 100 feet of the put-in the action starts off with a big class III slide “The Big Oh!” that very quickly leads to Hicks Creek Falls; an impressive 16-foot vertical waterfall. Unfortunately, the falls land on a solid rock slab. It can be run if you aren’t worried about breaking your boat or your back. Otherwise, it can be portaged on the left or right. The portage on the right will require climbing down a 10-foot vertical cliff. However, there is a tree growing next to the cliff that makes this task less daunting.

Below Hicks Creek Falls, the creek’s true ledgy nature begins to show. You’ll encounter the “Multiple Ohs!”: #1, #2, and #3. They are a series of straightforward class III ledge drops packed fairly tightly together. About 100 feet downstream of Multiple Oh #3 is a Class III+/-IV Rock Jumble. The day we ran it, it was jammed with logs, so we portaged on the right. Next up is Hicks Creek’s most challenging and technical rapid: Lickety Split. The day we ran it, this solid class IV had a “split” rock at the brink of the bottom drop. We ran the “split” on the left, avoiding the log to the right.

Below Lickety Split is one final 5 foot ledge then things calm down to an intimate float through a dense thicket of rhododendrons and mountain laurel. This is where Hicks Creek hides its biggest surprise: “The Bush”. Just before the confluence with Bear Creek, Hicks swamps out into an over grown hell of rhododendrons and mountain laurel. If you look closely you will find two very tight channels through The Bush, one leading right and the other left. We opted to go right, into a long tunnel of foliage. The way was clear and was nothing more then a

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