CR 127 (Jennings Rd SE) to Canyon Rim Road (State Route 176)

Hicks Creek is one of the more surprising micro-creek/flood runs in the Little River Canyon area. It is a tributary of “Teddy” Bear Creek, with a character all its own. Its gradient is given up in a blur of tightly packed broken ledge drops and quick moving boogie water with few eddies. Within 100 feet of the put-in the action starts off with a big class III slide “The Big Oh!” that very quickly leads to Hicks Creek Falls; an impressive 16-foot vertical waterfall. Unfortunately, the falls land on a solid rock slab. It can be run if you aren’t worried about breaking your boat or your back. Otherwise, it can be portaged on the left or right. The portage on the right will require climbing down a 10-foot vertical cliff. However, there is a tree growing next to the cliff that makes this task less daunting. Below Hicks Creek Falls, the creek’s true ledgy nature begins to show. You’ll encounter the “Multiple Ohs!”: #1, #2, and #3. They are a series of straightforward class III ledge drops packed fairly tightly together. About 100 feet downstream of Multiple Oh #3 is a Class III+/-IV Rock Jumble. The day we ran it, it was jammed with logs, so we portaged on the right. Next up is Hicks Creek’s most challenging and technical rapid: Lickety Split. The day we ran it, this solid class IV had a “split” rock at the brink of the bottom drop. We ran the “split” on the left, avoiding the log to the right. Below Lickety Split is one final 5 foot ledge then things calm down to an intimate float through a dense thicket of rhododendrons and mountain laurel. This is where Hicks Creek hides its biggest surprise: “The Bush”. Just before the confluence with Bear Creek, Hicks swamps out into an over grown hell of rhododendrons and mountain laurel. If you look closely you will find two very tight channels through The Bush, one leading right and the other left. We opted to go right, into a long tunnel of foliage. The way was clear and was nothing more then a smooth ramp of water to the Bear Creek confluence. I suspect that the left channel might dump into Bear Creek with one last class III. Overall, this is a fun short creek that can be used as a high water Bear Creek alternative put-in or for a fun short action packed trip all on its own. The day we put on, the Bear Creek gage read 15”, several hours later when we took off it was 8.5”. The level seemed to be medium-low, so I would guess that 12” on the Bear Creek gage would be minimum. As you might expect, this one drops like a rock and will only hold for a matter of hours after a rain.