Route 308 to Allegheny River

The runnable part of Scrubgrass Creek separates into two sections – an upper section between route 308 and the closed bridge on Rankin Chapel Road, and a lower section that runs to the mouth of the creek on the Allegheny River The upper section is about 3 miles long, with an average gradient of 52 ft/mile. It’s accessible, with roadside parking, from state route 308 north of Clintonville. It may be possible to carry upstream of route 308 and have a longer ride when the water is high. This is the more difficult section, with more pronounced rapids, say up to class III. I’ve not paddled (or even seen) this whole section, but from what I’ve scouted it looks to be by far the more difficult section of the creek. It’s down in an isolated valley with access only at the ends and a difficult steep climb out the sides. If you’re going to paddle the lower section and want just a taste of the upper, carry across the bridge that is the put-in for the lower section, then carry upstream on river right about ¼ mile till you get to the old stone ruins right on the bank of the creek. The last rapid on the upper section is 50 yards upstream from there and is harder than anything in the lower section. The lower section is about 1.75 miles long if you get out at the bridge over Bullion Run. The average gradient is about 43 ft/mile. Parking is available at the closed bridge at the put-in and for the take-out perhaps roadside at the bridge over Bullion Run. We’ve parked at the campground store just down the road – make sure you ask first and it wouldn’t hurt to slide the owners a couple of bucks in the name of good boater karma The lower section is nearly all visible from the roadside. There are numerous places to pull over and camp between the road and the creek on state forest land. The gradient on the creek is nearly constant, with few standout rapids, but nearly constant pourovers, small ledges and waves. The creek seems to empty very quickly, and is hard to judge from the local USGS gauges. The following gauge readings are from a higher than average level day Slippery Rock Creek at Wurtemburg: 5200 cfs, peaking Redbank Creek at St. Charles: 4000 cfs, climbing Buffalo Creek near Freeport: 2700 cfs, just starting to drop Oil Creek at Rouseville: 4.5 ft, climbing On a day after high water, when the levels were medium low the guages read: Slippery Rock Creek at Wurtemburg: 5000 cfs, starting to drop Redbank Creek at St. Charles: 4500 cfs, dropping Buffalo Creek near Freeport: 1600 cfs, dropping Oil Creek at Rouseville: 5.2 ft, dropping If the creek looks passable at the closed bridge, then it’s likely good to go for the lower section at least. There may be some extensive rock dodging, but there should be a channel the whole way Once on the creek the first thing to be on the look-out for is a strainer about ¼ mile from the put-in bridge. It may be possible to sneak around on river right, but be very cautious in higher water. It’s an easy portage on river right The most pronounced rapid on the section comes shortly after the strainer. It looks like a rock garden of bigger than usual boulders. It’s easy to scout from river left, with lines down both the right and left sides After the creek passes under the old private footbridge watch for the road on river left to make a left hand U-turn, with the creek also curving to the left. About halfway through the curve the creek splits around an island, with the right side choked by downed trees. The remaining channel on the left is a narrow, 15 foot wide slot between steep banks – a great strainer stopper. It’s an easy and fast scout from the stone cobble beach on river left. On the next rapid after the slot the current pushes into a huge boulder on river right. It’s easy to avoid as long as it hasn’t collected any wood. You can scout from river left if boat scouting isn’t enough. The take-out at the bridge across the creek isn’t far downstream. Note that in high water the small tributary stream at the take-out, Bullion Run, can be paddled from the top of the plateau down to Scrubgrass Creek. It’s a step up in difficulty from even upper Scrubgrass