Hazard Warning: Hazard information may be user-submitted and unverified. Conditions change frequently. Always scout rapids and obstacles yourself.
Put-in IL

Put In

Bear Branch - Straight Street bridge to Lusk Creek (2.25+1.5 miles) (IL)

Gauge Conditions
Runnable: 1,000.0 – 5,000.0 CFS

Bone dry to a trickle.

Photo
Put In
Photo courtesy of American Whitewater
Description

While the maps being used here show this as "New Home Road", other maps show it as "Straight Street". Put-in at the bridge (or carry upstream a bit if it looks interesting).

Using USGS StreamStats software, drainage area at this bridge is less than 1 square mile (0.928). The '10/85' (upstream) gradient is 136 FPM. This combination means runoff will be extremely quick.

As with all USGS gauges, the linked gauge (Lusk Creek, where drainage is 43 square miles) will update online only once per hour, and then posts data which is already 20-30 minutes old! By the time the gauge way downstream indicates 'runnable' flows, it is possible (likely) this tiny creek will have already run out.

To catch something this tiny, you need to be within a half-hour or so of the put-in when heavy rains hit, be watching the weather radars, and be geared up and ready to roll as soon as the heaviest rain passes. Drop a shuttle vehicle at the take-out (for Lusk Creek), and drive to this put-in (and be prepared to run something else or be 'skunked' if this didn't come up enough, or has already run out).

Location
Type
Put-in
Difficulty
Class N/A
Mile Marker
0.0 mi
Directions
View Full Run
Straight Street bridge to Lusk Creek (2.25+1.5 miles)
Bear Branch
III 3.7 mi
Current Conditions
5-Day Forecast
Whitewater data from
American Whitewater