Eagle Creek Section 1

Location: Zionsville, Indiana
Stream: Eagle Creek - Turkey Foot Park to Ford Road
Distance +/-5
Date: 11-18-06
Gauge: +/-3.7
Paddle Time: +/-2 hours
Weather: Overcast & 35

Difficulty: Moderate at this water level

Notes:
This is labeled Section 1 even though it appears on Google Earth that we could possibly put in upstream and check out some of that area. If we manage to do that we'll post a report and re-label the sections

Turkey Foot Park is an undeveloped park at the northern end of Turkey Foot Road north of the Zionsville Golf Course (coordinates 39°58'21.48"N 86°16'5.87"W). The road continues northwest into a development, but dead ends alongside the park if you go straight ahead. This is an old drive that leads to someone’s house so we avoid blocking it, but we have gotten permission from the parks department to put in there. At the northern end of the park is an easy walk to the water and a sand/gravel bar that makes a great put-in.

Pretty high water level. 0.5 miles into the trip we hit a fast narrow section with a sandbar in the middle and two strainers on the right. The plan was to make a quick turn around the end of the sandbar before hitting the strainers. James went first and when it appeared he was through Tucker and I started through. Unfortunately about that time James was caught in an eddy which forced his bow onto the sandbar, and we were too close to stop. We tried to get around his stern and turn in front of the strainer, but got swept on past and into the branches. We leaned downstream to counteract the water, but then the tree bent and we went over.

The water was pretty cold, so it was a breath-taker to go in, but I hung onto the boat and we didn’t lose any paddles. One ended up in the strainer, the other a little way downstream. The bank didn’t really leave us a place to get out, so Tucker walked across to the middle of the creek and stood on the sandbar. After I got the boat relatively near shore James was able to come over and help me get it the rest of the way in. Tucker then had to wade back across to get to me and the boat which he wasn't real happy about, but he didn't have much choice. This photo is just after we got out of the water...at least he's smiling. The overcast and 35-degree temperature didn't help much.

We were pretty cold, so I got out a couple of dry shirts I had brought and gave them to Tucker. After he got them on and warmed up a little we decided to go on down. The rest of the way down to Lion’s Park was pretty uneventful.

There are a couple of interesting drops/riffles, one being just on the northeast corner of the golf course. That's a pretty quick right-hand bend into a small drop with several large rocks river left, the best course is to the right.

There is a large sandbar where a creek enters from river left - I think it's Little Eagle Creek - where you can find some very large freshwater mussel shells.

Approximately another tenth of a mile downstream there is a small drop with rocks all the way across, the photo below the Eagle Creek heading from a later trip of Tucker hitting it with style shows why.

You can see the earlier report on the section from Lions Park to the Ford Road takeout. This water level did make a couple of the tight spots more challenging, but still not difficult.

We have started taking out before the bridge because the bank is a little less steep, but it's a tradeoff for a slightly longer drag/carry to get up to the parking area