A tributary to the Illinois River, this remarkable creek would be run on the regular if it had easy access. In the end, this lack of easy access is what ends up making the place so special.
Most of the time when this creek has enough water to paddle, the access road (Bear Camp Rd) has impassable snow and the days are short and cold. The times when there is a chance to run this creek is typically early Fall before the snow has accumulated much, or late Spring after the road has been cleared. By the time the road gets plowed most years, the storms that give the creek water are done for the season.
The other access issue is the beginning of the run does not have a road or trail leading to it. This means you will probably need to bushwhack down to, then paddle the East Fork or West fork to get to the main stem. While both the East and West forks are remarkable on their own, they both have more dealing than the main stem. There is a small, elevated flat area that can be used as a place to camp on river left at the confluence of the West and East forks. With more camping options the closer the creek gets to the Illinois.
Once at the WF/EF confluence, the creek is fantastic. The boating is high quality, and the scenery classic. The whitewater is all made of large boulders, creating clean and runnable rapids. There is typically just enough of a gap between rapids to allow for a recovery before the next one begins. Much of the creek can be scouted from a boat, or read and ran. Every now and then a larger rapid should be scouted, which is not a difficult thing to do at most water levels. The creek below the WF/EF confluence does not reach class V at lower levels, though a couple rapids would as the level came up. There is one portage within the last mile above the Illinois confluence, just downstream of a foot bridge. It is hard to stress the quality of the run enough, with mile after mile of fun boating in a place few people find themselves.
The access keeps this run from being done often, so it's not an opportunity to miss when the stars align.
Note: The East Fork has more manageable access than the West Fork, but also has a gorge with an intimidating, near mandatory rapid. At low water levels, a creative portage was possible with either a seal launch or throw and go into a retentive pinch at the bottom, at medium or higher levels this would likely become a V-V+ situation, without any good portage options.