This is the upper section of Little Beaver Creek that was too low for us to kayak during our camping weekend last year, as it often is. It looks promising for this weekend.
We will meet at the Beaver Creek State Park group campground in Ohio, condense kayaks onto less vehicles, and shuttle people and kayaks to the put-in 12 miles upstream, at Elkton Community Park. then paddle back down to the camp. If you are able to haul more people and kayaks than you came with, please be prepared to do so.
We will stop around the halfway point to eat lunch and stretch our legs. Bring your own food and beverages.
At the end, we will need a volunteer or two to take the original shuttle drivers back to their vehicles.
This is a moving creek with easy class I rapids. There could be trees down that we'll have to get out and portage around.
It is not a race, but we will need to paddle at a steady rate to get the 12 miles covered in a reasonable amount of time.
All paddlers must provide their own kayak and gear. As with all WPKA events, all participants must wear a pfd at all times while kayaking.
Little Beaver Creek is a wild and scenic area in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The creek is protected by a number of classifications, including Ohio Wild and Scenic River and National Scenic River, as well as being part of Ohio's state park system. It is the only major river in Ohio to have dual State Wild and Scenic and National Scenic River designations, and was the first in the country to earn both distinctions. The creek empties into the Ohio River in Pennsylvania.
It supports 63 species of fish, 49 mammal species, 270 species of migratory and resident birds and 46 species of reptiles and amphibians, including the rare and protected salamander known as the hellbender. It is thought to be the only riparian corridor in the United States which shows geologic evidence of all five ice ages.
If the water levels are too low for the upper part of this creek, we will still meet at the same place, and do the bottom half instead, which is also a great trip.
