We will be camping at Deer Creek State Park, 20635 State Park Rd 20, Mt. Sterling, Ohio 43143. Phone 740-869-2020. We have reservations at Group Site #1. There are 6 picnic tables at that camp site and a fire area. There is likely a portajohn close by but there is no running water or electric at that campsite. Full bathrooms, showers, etc. are located in the main campground. Eric said that he has reserved an electric site in the main campground and is happy to share it should you prefer to have those conveniences.
Saturday night potluck theme will be Mardi Gras! So bring a southern dish or a picnic type dish. I will be providing the beads! Also the appropriate attire for saturday dinner is Hawaiian Shirts (or other tropical looking outfits.)
This is the first time OHCRA as a club will be running Deer Creek. I will be scouting the creek in June or July and provide an update regarding expected conditions and log jams etc. There is a potential for a significant number of logs etc. as this creek is not commercially run so downed logs are not cut out to clear the water. When I ran it about 9 years ago there was only 1 log spanning the creek. Since the water is controlled by the dam, there should be sufficient water all summer for canoeing. I will also be exploring upstream of the lake to try to get moving water for a friday/sunday trip, otherwise we can explore the lake. More about this as I get more information.
This information will be update as we approach the trip date, likely in July.
Wil and I scouted the area on sunday 7-28 and monday 7-29 and found the following:The campground is very nice with a well stocked store and has putt putt, bicycle rentals and plenty of great roads at the park and countryside for bicycle riding. The group camp is about 1.5 miles from the main campground. The group camp has plenty of room for our group with mixed shaded and open sites. There are several picnic tables scattered around the camp and portajohns just outside the area. As you enter the Deercreek Park area, follow signs to the main campground, but instead of turning left into the campground with the big sign, continue on and follow signs to horsemans/group camp, which is up about a mile and turn right. It is well marked. Go to the end of the road and left into Group Camp 1. I hope to put a couple of OHCRA signs out, but I do not have any right now. We have use of the showers, bathrooms, etc. back at the main camp.
The river upstream of the lake that we plan to paddle is approximately 5 miles to the takeout. It is the typical Ohio chute and pool pattern. Some of the chutes may be shallow. We looked at the section from several vantage points and it seemed entirely or mostly floatable. We saw some fresh boat drags so it had been paddled recently. The put in is a large gravel parking lot and a path down to the river. It is maybe 120 feet or so to the water down a grassy path. The take out is just into the lake with easy parking and take out. The water flow looked like 1/2 to 1 mph.
The water downstream of the dam was paddleable but shallow in many areas. Some individuals wanting a work out and adventure may still be interested in the section. We did not find any trees blocking the entire river, but there were a couple that blocked the channel forcing us into shallower areas that required we walk in the water past that area or "scootch" over the shallow water. This, however, was a minor issue, as there were numerous areas in the 9 mile stretch that required walking in the water or scootching to get thru shallow areas. We did not have to walk on land at any point, but we had to get out maybe 10 times and had to scootch maybe 12 times. Each time there was enough water to float the boat so there was very little dragging, just walking with it to the next deeper area. Wil and I completed the trip in about 5 hours. The water was slow and I feel like any skill level could be on the water safely and complete the trip, but just realize that if the water is that low in a couple of weeks that walking and scootching will be required. About 3 more inches of water would have made for a better trip. We will provide shuttle to anyone interested in the trip. I will be attempting to get either dam flow information or gage levels this week so that we can find out for sure if it is up or down from mondays trip. On the up side, there are no other roads or bridges and no houses along the way. It feels quite isolated and wild. We saw a couple of bald eagles and a hawk that had caught an opossum. It flew across the river with it, then as we got closer it crossed the river again and dropped it in the river. I had never seen that before. I am going to be working on an alternative trip for saturday on the Big Darby, as it is near by, or possibly a section of the Scioto. I will provide options on friday of the outing.
Oh, on saturday and sunday there will be free tours of the INSIDE of the Deer Creek dam. That should be very interesting, and also I will be making bulletproof coffee for anyone interested in trying it on sunday morning. Saturday evening dinner is Mardi Gras and remember to bring tropical wear.
Feel free to contact me via phone, text or email if there are questions.
Regards,
Lance
(260)449-0465