St. Louis Creeks

Fishpot is pretty easy to get in and out of. Caulks is right off Strecker. That is easy enough to put in on. No major sewer pipes to deal with.
Anyone do Grand Glaize or Kiefer Creek?
I hear there is a nice waive on Grand Glaize. Can you put in by Ballwin Golf Course? Any tips. Things to avoid.

You have several options around here that have all be run.

Fishpot: Best putin is in a neighborhood just off of Sulpher Springs. Run it all the way to the Meremac or stop at a little park just off Hanna Rd. A few good surfs, one really nasty hole behind Parkway South High school.

West Fork Fishpot: Put in at Oak Brook Elem. or at the church across the street. Fast run down to Sulpher Springs rd right before it joins main Fishpot. Couple good drops.

Grand Glaize: Put in across from the golf course where the creek comes out of a major drainage tunnel. Run down to the Walgreens at Wiedman rd. Several really good surfs, one nasty hole. Occasional strainers and there was a dangerous cable running with the current just past 141 as of last year. Havent gotten on it this year yet but Joe S has. (putin is in my back yard so it is a fav run)

Fox Creek: Put in is at the second bridge on Hencken Rd off of Hwy 100(Manchester). Take out is just before hwy 44 at Rockwood conservation trail access. This is my favorite run by far. Starts off as a micro creek with many strainers. Feels remote at first with lots of natural rock. 2 hazards on the upper stretch besides the strainers; a 12 ft slide you have to walk or drag on the left side, the right is nasty, and a 8 foot falls you run on the left side with a left boof. Lots of willows and tight moves after the second drop till you meet up with the main section of Fox. Real fun section for the next mile or so with very steady gradient and willows to dodge. One massive rapid with a sticky hole on the left at higher flows. After going by some farms and and flatter water, there is a low water bridge with a good drop. Scout from right and run aiming for the culverts as the water pushes through there. Bridge just downstream tends to collect lots of trees so just be aware. There was a river wide log jam a half mile below this last month that required a portage. Take out is tricky, check it out when you run shuttle to know what to look for. Several low water bridges create great sufing waves.

Kiefer: This is a fast run and hard to catch. Putin is where Kiefer Creek road bends after crossing the bridge. Run down to Castlewood. Hazards are no eddies in the upper half and a major drop at a driveway crossing similar to what is on Fox. Scout a head of time as you can not stop when you come up to it. Lots of possible strainers.

All of these have sections that can be run and self shuttled or you can max them out for runs as long as 6 miles. Always up for a run or showing someone the highlights if it rains. Hardest to hit are West Fork, Kiefer, and Fox. Fishpot and GG can be hit anytime we get atleast a half inch of rain in 15-20 minutes or an inch of rain in an hour or so. They come down fast and your shuttle has to be run before the rain stops or you will be getting a low run in and dragging a lot. Joe can add his input on these as he runs them just as much as me.

thank you. Fishpot is fun. I only did lower part a couple times.
I will definately check out Fox Creek, Grand Glaize and Kiefer if we ever get our spring rains. Crazy weather.

Pete is right on.... I like running Grand Glaze from Baxter down, parkng where the covered bridge is. Had a fabulaous surf on Grand Glaze about a month ago, just past 141. The surf wave I like is at the top of a long rapid that ends in a hole. The cable that Pete mentioned is below this hole, but I think it is gone. I did not see it. Matt, what section of Fish Pot did you do? I like to do a real short run from the car wash down to the Meramec. You can run it multiple times and walk back to your car. Depending on the level, there are one to three decent surf opps. It takes an hour and a half for water to get to this section of stream after a big rain so time is on your side, but the Meramec has to be down. My gage for Fish Pot is the low water bridge at Vance Trails Park. The water has to be going over it to be enough water to run it. What section of Caulks did you did? I have checked out a rapid at low water on Caulks under a railroad bridge near Baxter, have not run it. It looks like it would be good.

As Pete mentions, these creeks have serious hazards: holes and you never know when there will be a new tree down. Also, the levels can go up rapidly. I recommend solid Class III boating skills and knowing the creek before you head down.

Happy to run these with anyone interested. Best bet is to be watching the weather for storm predictions and be ready to go.

"Matt, what section of Fish Pot did you do? I like to do a real short run from the car wash down to the Meramec"

Jim Lampe and I ran it a few weeks ago. We started off Vance at a subdivision by the landfill, went through a big concrete pipe and went down vance road. The low water bridge looked nasty--we portaged around it. We went down to the Meramec and walked back up and did the bottom section three times.

Jim has ran Caulks from Valley Road and Strecker down to Chesterfield bottoms I believe. I scouted Caulks by Kehrs Mill and Strecker and by Lewis Spring the day I did Fishpot, It was raging. It looked like its lots of fun. Caulks or Grand Glaize will be the next local creek I run. Thanks for the good info.

I think I was on Grand Glaze when you guys were on FishPot.

I have a takeout option for Caulks figured out (parking lot behind businesses right before Hwy 40), but not sure on the putin. Would love to hit it with you guys sometime.

Where do you park to run fishpot? Also what type of boats are you using?

Could you guys recommend a good park and play surf wave? I'm not ready for creeking yet, I've done the lower Saint a few times, and really enjoyed surfing a neat little drop on the upper during clinic. I really want to find a close place to practice surfing (I live in Ballwin). We parked at Office Depot and walked under 141 today, but I don't have the experience to recognize how dangerous a hole might be, etc. I'm going to do some scouting the next time we get a decent rain, but a lead on a relatively safe and easy, but fun surf wave would be awesome.

John

Fishpot.
Vance/Sulphur Springs Road. Park in subdivision and walk down to creek. You finish at levee park at Marshall Rd and 141 in Valley Park by the 141 bridge.

Little surf wave at lower section close Meramec. West Fork of Fishpot per Bryan Lester is cool. Lots of drops. Its by Reese and Big Bend.

Im not 100% sure but I think all the creeks require a hard heavy rain and the window is a little bit after the rain stops or during the rain. Last time I went it rained all night--we were on Fishpot at 8:45am. We ran it and then walked back up and did the bottom section around Marshall road 3 or 4 times till it dropped.

Thanks! No rain in sight, I may get out and hike some of it in the mean time

Check your private messages

It sounds like these are some interesting runs. Might these be added to the American Whitewater database? Or is there a good reason they should not be? (E.G., if there are access issues, or other things which could make publicizing some of them a bad idea.) We would love to have a 'local expert' volunteer to contribute write-ups (and photos/videos if they have any). OR . . . if there is no one who is a member of American Whitewater (to be able to sign on as a volunteer "StreamTeam member" ), if you would prefer, with your permission, I could add listings, 'rough them out' (based on info in this thread), and solicit additional input to 'flesh them out', as needed.

The AW river pages are 'your' river pages. What gets on AW is what LOCAL volunteers contribute. Help out your fellow boaters by contributing to the 'knowledge base'.

Rob Smage
VOLUNTEER Regional StreamTeam Editor for American Whitewater

Hi Rob, I think it is a good idea. If you work something up, feel free to rely on me for some input/photos.