Sugar Creek in Indiana

Trip Overview

We took this trip on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The creek was running around 500 cfs and 2.2 ft. at the Crawfordsville gage. I would say these water levels were perfect. There was no dragging what so ever and there were even a couple of places where there were waves splashing over the deck of my kayak. Those were really fun and I wish there were more!

We took the 17 mile trip, with the put in at Deers Mill covered bridge. The put in was quite hectic, but I blame the holiday weekend for the crowd. The trip only took about 6.5 hours, and that was taking quite a few breaks for snacking and lunch on the many sandbars during the trip.

We brought fishing poles, but never put any lines in due to the swift water and crowd. We did get to see herons, geese, a baby copperhead, a bald eagle and the nest with another eagle in it! This is the first time I have ever seen eagles in Indiana, and it was wonderful to see the birds coming back. The scenery was also very nice and would make a great fall trip.

Equipment: I had my 12' Perception Prodigy kayak and my husband had his 14' Mad River Synergy. We just got these boats this spring, and both of them worked out just fine. Only complaint is my dry hatch storage didn't stay very dry.

Accommodations:

We used Sugar Valley Canoes for shuttle service.

Fees:

Shuttle fee of $25 for 2 kayaks

Directions:

Sugar Valley Canoe is 1/2 mile West of Turkey Run Park entrance.