Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek is best known as the creek that flows through Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park (the singletrack trail system in the park crosses the creek twice.)  It is rarely more than a trickle, but with the right amount of rain, Walnut becomes a fast, continuous, and fun Class III creek with some good play and relatively low consequences.  An ideal level for whitewater boating seems to be at 1000+ cfs on the Dessau Rd. gauge, with the play features becoming more optimal toward 3000 cfs.  At this level, the first three miles of the run has very little flat water and contains numerous big, long, and often irregular wave trains, a handful of good surf spots (most catch-on-the-fly, but a couple of them have eddy service), as well as some really crisp eddy lines and even a whirlpool or two.  At higher levels, the features get bigger and faster, and there is less play, but the creek does not generally increase in difficulty.

Most paddlers put in below 'Piton Dam' in Walnut Creek Metro Park (the Class III rating assigned to this run assumes portaging that dam.)  This allows you to enjoy 0.6 miles of Wells Branch, a twisting, tight, and shallow Class III tributary of Walnut that drops 50 feet per mile over some smooth limestone features before confluencing with Walnut right at Lamar Blvd (for those who have hiked or biked in Walnut Creek Metro, Wells Branch is the creek the flows next to the 'Windy Loop', 'BMX', and 'Severe Consequences' trails.)  Because Wells Branch is a narrow channel and doesn't flow very often, there tend to be strainers in this section, so watch out for these.  The beauty of Wells Branch is that, despite being a steep creek, it is entirely runnable in a playboat.  Since the creek flows at a steady downhill gradient, there are no significant holes, drops, or other obstacles that would necessitate the use of a creek boat, and in fact, using a big boat could be a liability, since it would make it more difficult to execute tight turns.

Altho

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