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2008
Eagle Creek to Dam 1 (Mile
4)
This
turned out to be one crazy day! That’s the best way I can
describe it. I’d had an uneasy sleep the night before and I
awoke with a bit of anxiety as to what I might experience today. If this
attempt to paddle the entire Kentucky River was
going to be stopped it would stopped here. I
HAD to find a put-in.
As I've mentioned in my previous journals, the
Eagle Creek Resort
has a ramp but it's private. I had to find somewhere else to go with access to the water. I was prepared for anything.
To my way of thinking, the
most likely access points were either
Lock and Dam 1 (the furthest downriver point of this pool) or the rock quarry in
I now proceeded to General Butler State Park a little bit further down. I knew that the dam was right on it's border, and as I drove through to check it out I happened to stumble upon Lock 1 Road. Perfect! Things were starting well. Yet, as I proceeded up the road at a pace of only about 35-40 mph, I found that the lock and dam grounds came up quite quickly with no visible signs. I almost drove right past the lock houses and through the little iron guardrail at the end of the road! Well, it turns out that this would have been a perfect spot to put-in were it not for all the “No Trespassing” signs. I didn't want to take the chance of getting fined or towed so I moved on…
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Next I decided to check out a little lane I'd noticed on the upriver side of the lock which came down to the river. It ended at a spot that looked like it might lie outside the lock grounds and that way I'd be outside the "No Trespassing" signs. To that end, I drove up the hill and started scouting all the streets that looked to head down toward it. No luck. I decided to see if I could find someone to ask...
Eventually a nice woman told me that there was a put-in on the other side of the river in Prestonville off KY389. She was kind enough to give me pretty good directions so I headed that way. Yet, once there I couldn't find anything. I went down a side street and found 2 men to ask. They weren't aware of a sure put-in, but they had seen boats coming in and out the area, so I decided to try all the streets in the vicinity (it's rural out here, so this wasn't as daunting a task as it sounds). Anyway, my best chance ended up being a road that terminated at a fenced gate. Foiled again!
I next decided to go
a little further on KY389 to see if maybe I’d missed a street,
and I had – another
Well, as I stepped
into the quarry office they must have thought I was crazy! They said that their property
did back up to the river, but that the bank was really steep.
Besides, they couldn’t let me do it anyway. They
could potentially be held liable if anything bad happened (and this was
understandable).
They did direct me to the florist next door, however. They too, backed up to the
river. Perhaps they'd let me…
At the florist I was told that it wouldn’t be feasible
to put-in there, but that there was a spot next to their business where I could
drive down to a creek (White's Run) and access the Kentucky River that way.
It was just past the bridge that followed their property. I hopefully drove down, in
the process encountering very large potholes that had my car buffeting around and
bottoming out. The place was also so overgrown as to make for
very poor visibility. This was a safety concern as, being
alone, I simply can't take unneccessary chances.
That was it! I had only ONE
last possibility…
The Eagle Creek Resort.
Everyone I'd talked to had said something to the tune of:
“Oh, nonono. You can’t use that ramp. It’s
private”. Yet, I had no alternative. I was fully ready to beg
and plead on bended knee to use their ramp, and I asked the first person I
saw. He appeared to be working on his roof. I braced
myself as I waited his reply with a heart ready to either break
or leap for joy…
“Sure buddy! Have at it!”
?!?
What incredible luck!!! As I exuberantly drove back I did begin to wonder, however... Just what kind of “Have at it!” was this? Was this a: “I’m just working on this guy's roof, so do whatever you want." kind of “Have at it!” or was this legit? I had to go with it either way, of course, but at least I’d gotten some kind of affirmation. I wasn’t going to question it too much. I finally put-in at the muddy tip of land at the bottom of an old ramp at the mouth of Eagle Creek, but there were actually two ramps here (see photo below which I think gives the best view). Was I ever happy to be on the water again! Wow!
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Eagle Creek enters the Kentucky River here at mile 11 on the
right side, and I got in about ¾ mile. I thought I might get quite a bit
further, though. This is said to be one of the longest creeks in the
state. In fact, I would have been stopped much earlier
than I was had it not been for someone who had cut through a large deadfall.
Two ramps come in on the left not too far back into the stream and they looked
like they mght belong to an RV park up there amid the community of
Once you emerge from Eagle Creek you'll find a spot on the right side (across from the muddy bank where I put in) where the navigation charts indicate indicate that a state inspection station used to be - circa 1802! I didn’t see any remaining evidence it, however. As for the Kentucky River itself, you're in a fairly wide open spot here with farmland views through the trees on the left.
Then, as you proceed
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Anyway, by the time I got down
to the two mile straightaway that comprises miles 10 - 8 I
looked down the water and found that it took on a really sweet shade of blue.
There were also some really nice views of those
amber waves of grain we’ve got in such abundance here in
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Mill Creek enters at mile 8 (navigable ¼ mile) and it was another nice one. At the end of the slack water, however, I found a disconcerting spectacle - a fishing line in a tree with a fish carcass dangling from it! It took me aback, and I tried to figure out how it might have gotten up there. Was this a natural occurrence, possibly the result of the rising and falling water level, or had someone put it up there deliberately? Well, later in the day I found another of these along the bank and decided that it was probably the latter. I didn’t dawdle anymore paddling in and out of the creeks in here. Seeing a mockery being made of one of God's creations is a very sad thing, indeed.
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After mile 8 you'll find some
wiggles in the river which will extend for the next mile. There's a tight right curve followed
by an abrupt jog left.
The right curve is known as Dean’s
A two mile straight will now greet you with an Interstate 71 bridge visible up in the distance. There's also a stream on the right side that you might be familiar with - White’s Run at mile 6.5. This was where I'd driven over all the underbrush in search of a put-in! The stream itself is nice, and you'll pass under a couple bridges, one of which was of a different construction than any I'd seen before (see second photo below). I also encountered more of that green alphabet soup alga at the back - the kind that I'd encountered before in some of the upriver sections (third photo). I guess it's more common than I thought, and that's OK. I think it's pretty cool to look at!
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Just before you reach the I71 Bridge you'll see the florist (Interstate Greenhouse & Nursery which is on Facebook) and the quarry (actually an asphalt plant run by Hinkle Contracting Company) where I'd made my put-in inquiries. They were right! The bank is pretty steep here! It would have been like sledding down a forested hill trying to get my kayak in. Then I would have had to climb back up, slipping and falling all the way - not to mention all the poison ivy and brambles I surely would have had.
Anyway, once you pass the bridge you'll begin an “S” curve that will take you through the last mile down to the dam. There's farmland on both sides to start, (and the photo below was taken here) but as you get to about the middle you'll find that the businesses of Carrollton, Kentucky will start to become apparent - not necessarily in terms of view because they're receded from the shoreline, but in terms of sound. :) Carrollton is second largest city on the Kentucky River, by the way, with Frankfort being the largest. At any rate, I saw a fisherman in this section and I first thought he was in a powerboat, but he was paddling too.
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The lock and dam
looked great, of course, and now it's official. All of the lock and
dams on the Kentucky River are located in incredibly beautiful spots! This one
still had the lock houses, but they looked similar to the ones upriver in Irvine at dam 12
in that they'd been graffiti’d and were in need
of some TLC. As for that little dirt
road that I'd seen earlier - the one that came down near (but just outside) the
lock grounds? It looked ideal for accessibility!
Someone might earn a little
money making this spot accessible to boaters. I, for one,
would be willing to pay a couple bucks to use it!
In terms of the dam itself, this one had the lowest elevation - as you might expect. I stayed and enjoyed the spot for quite a while, getting out and walking around a bit, but wouldn’t you know that I got another one of those optical headaches I've mentioned in previous jornals! This time I was ready for it, but I’ll never again fail to bring aspirin again while paddling. The problem was gone by the time I got back. Below are some photos from the dam although the lighting was not good...
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Once I was able to tear myself away from the lock and dam I headed on back upriver with the thought that even if I’m never able to return, this spot will forever hold significance for me. It’s a great area, and as I stopped to savor the place and the moment as it appeared back at the ramp(below), I began to wish that I could find someone with whom I could finally and absolutely determine the stance of people here at the resort towards paddlers. Had it been in existence at the time of this trip, the web link mentioned above would have made this a lot easier but...
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I got my chance to ask...
Driving out, I flagged down a guy passing me in a golf cart.
He didn’t exactly clarify, but he did say that they’d like to
maintain the character of the place. I didn’t get the feeling
that he minded me being around, per-se, but I could tell that they weren't
rolling out the welcome mat to just anyone. I’ll probably not
return unless I can get expressed permission. Now, if I could determine the status of those ramps
I saw back in the Eagle Creek…
DIRECTIONS:
I’ll leave this
blank until (or if) I can clarify paddler status with the resort.