Middle Fork Paddle Trip

Breakdown:  We made our run down the Middle Fork River!   With just one canoe, and some relatively experienced paddlers...we decided to ramp up our adventure to a 6.5 mile trip!  Turned out to be a great choice.  We started at the Bunker Hill Canoe Access in the north part of the State Fish and Wildlife Area, and we pulled out at the Sportsmans Lake Canoe Access at the north end of the State Park.  What a ride. We saw 2 bald eagles, 1 bald eagle nest, 2 blue herons, many other birds, 9 deer, some beautiful geology and some kind rapids. 

Specs:  For reference if you'd like to make a similar trip sometime: 

Boat:  2000 Old Town Katahdin (14' Fiberglass)
Passengers: 2 adults, 1 child
Depart C-U:  7:15 AM
In Water:  8:39 AM (Bunker Hill Canoe Access)
Out of Water: 10:39 AM (Sportsman Lake Canoe Access)
Return C-U: 12:20 PM
Float length:  6.5 river miles
Est. Paddle Velocity: 3.25 miles/hour
River Stage: 2.4 feet
Fun level:  10

Resources:  There is a very nice, professional YouTube resource called PaddleTV, which includes many videos about paddling techniques, tips for trips, and pointers for kids. 

For the more advanced paddlers, especially canoes, the go-to resource for information is Bill Mason's Path of the Paddle (book or video).  The book is on our bookshelf at home! 

Again...Kickapoo Adventures provides a nice variety of paddling trips at reasonable costs down the Middle Fork River.   They would also likely have more anecdotal information about most ideal river stages and estimated times for trips.

Our route on April 27, 2019

We ran the river between small storm peaks in the river stage.

Beautiful morning for a float trip.

Abby got some paddle time.  Mark was chillin'.

Bald eagle with its nest!

Snack on a point bar.

Quick video, watch for the heron!

Blue heron.

The guy in the stern is supposed to be steering.

A unique find on a point bar.

Shuttle back to Bunker Hill with Mark's vehicle.

paddle faster, I hear banjo music

Thursday's rain.....hmmm.....I've been watching the USGS river gauge at Oakwood every 5 minutes for the last 32 hours (not really)...and it's rising of course.  The rain wasn't a downpour, but it was certainly enough....you can see the spike rising in the last 12-16 hours.

What I'd like to see by tomorrow morning is a stage at 2.5 feet or less.   You can run the Middle Fork at a stage of 3.0 feet, but it would be a very quick trip.  Joan and I ran the river when it was around 4.0 many years ago, and it was like a freeway.  Way too fast and turbulent to be safe.

So...we haven't heard any takers for tomorrow's trip, but that's ok!...Abby and I (and another dad-to-be friend) are likely going to make the run tomorrow morning with our own canoe.  Because of the Illinois marathon, we are going to leave town by 7:30 or so to be safe.  We could actually leave town as late as precisely 8:11 AM (knowing that only because of this awesome online Marathon viewer ), but we want to play it safe.

We'll be arriving at the Sportsman Lake canoe access parking lot by about 8:30 in Kickapoo State Park.  We'll run the rapids of the Class I stream (not really rapids) and pull the boat out just before the bridge (likely around 10:00) at Kickapoo Adventures (formerly Kickapoo Landing).

If you decide that you'd like to join, or run the stream some other time, Kickapoo Adventures is open on Saturdays and Sundays only in April, from 8-6.  However, in May, they will be open every day!  So tomorrow, if you'd like to go, and you don't have a canoe, you can stop by Kickapoo Adventures by 8:00 or so, and they can likely set you up with the same trip that we are doing.   For future reference, the map below shows public access canoe launch/pull-out locations along the Middle Fork.  It's Illinois' only national scenic river......so get out there someday and paddle it!  It's pretty!

Upcoming canoe trip on April 27

Hi all! 

Next time that I will cuonthetrail will be April 27th!  It's coming up soon!  We've got a 2 mile canoe trip on the Middle Fork!  This will be a brief jaunt down the stream, and I think there are only 2-3 meanders total....but it is a good little trip to start and a good little trip for a morning. 

There is a longer trip....8 miles, if there is interest and time....please let me know in the comments. 

Couple of things!  Canoes/kayaks.....does anyone have them?  We've got 1 canoe.  I have a friend who can likely bring 2 canoes and has access to a 3rd.  That's a total of 4 canoes.  Any kayaks out there?....  Let's try to coordinate a few things: 

(1) Who's going? 
(2) Who's got canoes/kayaks? 
(3) Who's willing to transport those devices?

ALTERNATIVELY, we can opt to hire Kickapoo Adventures for canoe/kayak rental and shuttle....for the "Lower Section" (8 miles), it costs $35/canoe (same for tandem kayaks).  Not too bad of a price!  I'll check if they offer a shuttle for the 2-mile trip.  It's not listed on the website. 

LASTLY, we will need to keep an eye on the water levels.  The USGS stream gauge at Oakwood is the key gauge.  We'd like to have the river stage (depth of water) below 2.5 feet (based on exerience and reading the Paddling Illinois book). 

Here is the current gauge as of this morning.  So...needless to say, let's cross our fingers for some dry weather. 

A back up plan can always be a float around the lake(s) at Kickapoo State Park.  It can be fun as well.  

OK!!   Let me know what you think!