Location: Mechanicsburg, Indiana
Stream: Sugar Creek – S.R. 39 to U.S. 52
Distance +/-9
Date: 12-15-06
Gauge: +/-None
Paddle Time: +/-3 hours
Paddlers: James Nichols, Doug Mark
Weather: Sunny & 35 @ start, 51 at end
Note: As you will see in the report we found out part way through this trip that this creek has not been designated a navigable waterway or a recreational stream in Boone County. This means any wading, portaging or otherwise touching property adjacent to the stream is at your own risk of trespassing. In order to help you avoid trouble with access and property owners please review the following:
Indiana Navigability Report Summary:
Indiana law is somewhat confusing as it applies to recreational boaters. Boaters may clearly use larger navigable streams where the state owns the streambed, as well as smaller streams that have been statutorily designated as recreational rivers. Whether smaller navigable streams, which have privately owned beds, may be used for boating is presently unclear. Despite the fact that Indiana authorities have discussed navigability, the law determining which Indiana streams are open to recreational boating is far from clear. The exception to this is any stream designated as a recreational stream.
Or, you can get more info at the American Whitewater.org law review section: (
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Wiki/access:in )
Paddling Notes:
This section of Sugar Creek varies in width from about 20 feet to 40 feet. We saw a few scattered sand bars, but at this water level there were no places we could not paddle through. There is no gauge in the area for a reference.
It is roughly a four mile drive from the takeout to the put-in but the creek meanders north and south as it makes its way generally southwest toward Crawfordsville resulting in a paddle of about 8.8 miles. There are a few fun riffles and small holes to add interest, but also several trees down across the creek. We were able to slide over and under a couple of trees but had to walk around a few more.
We put in on the east side of the S.R. 39 bridge where we have access on private property. ( 40° 9'41.99"N, 86°29'8.17"W) It looks like decent access and parking for a couple of vehicles is available in the highway right-of-way on the northeast side of the bridge. About 1.5 miles into the trip we came to a large island we could not see around, and elected to go to the right. That route turned out to be blocked by an old farm bridge low to the water, so we portaged around. We went river right since the bank was lower, but this is in someone’s yard. Fortunately we were back in the water before the dog noticed us…he was not looking too friendly as we paddled away.
There is an old concrete arch railroad bridge about 1.2 miles downstream and an iron truss bridge about 4.6 miles downstream. The iron bridge is another possible takeout point for a shorter trip, it is located on Creek Road at 40° 9'10.40"N, 86°32'3.50"W.
After passing under the iron bridge then Interstate 65 we noticed that the property owner on river left had posted notices reading “No Trespassing” and “Notice Regarding Public Access to Sugar Creek” in large letters and a lot of small print underneath that you couldn’t read from the water. Since it seemed like a good time for a bathroom break we stopped to do that and read the rest of the notice. The small print contained the warning that because Sugar Creek has not been designated a navigable waterway touching the bank or bottom is trespassing. We decided it was nice of them to post that part in letters so small you have to be within a few feet to read them, so you are essentially trespassing to find out you are trespassing.
This is such a rural area with so little development that I don’t believe that most people are aware of the river law or would care if you did portage for a short way as long as you are within the normal high water mark like any navigable stream. However, this particular property owner has fenced around 1400 acres to create his own hunting area and is also apparently concerned about invasion via water. Since that trip we have seen a lot of comments about the owner and his attitude toward access to the creek on the discussion boards for the local paper.
We continued on our way scaring up a couple of whitetail bucks that would run downstream a few hundred yards to hide, then jump up and run again when we got close. They finally got tired of the game and crossed the creek about 50 yards in front of us and took off through a farm field.
We also saw several squirrels and, surprisingly for the time of day, a raccoon. We saw evidence of beavers as well, but no animals.
About a half mile from the end we got to “the maze”…the creek had split around a very small island, and was completely blocked by trees that had fallen from either side and brush that had washed down into them. We scouted a bit to find a way around, and were amazed to find that there were several more small islands downstream basically held together by tree roots with water running through in several directions. We portaged river right and continued around to the right since that seemed the smoothest. This will be a fun place to come back and play around in on a warmer day this summer.
While not the easiest access in the world due to the slope, the water level was perfect at the takeout for us to be able to pull over at the bottom of the roadside drainage ditch on river right and haul our boats up to the northbound U.S. 52 shoulder where we had parked. ( 40° 8'54.38"N, 86°35'6.30"W)
This is a fairly easy paddle, but you do have to look out for downed trees. Some of the maneuvering would be tight for inexperienced paddlers or possibly a larger boat (although ours are 14 & 17' long), but there were no other major obstacles. Since this section is through farmland it is not as scenic as the sections downstream of Crawfordsville with the bluffs and forests, but it was still enjoyable.
