EVENT DETAILS:

Please join us as we run the East Fork White River trip on our annual pilgrimage to southern Indiana. After three months of nearly steady rainfall in this area typically after July 4th the smaller streams tend to dry up immediately and remain that condition for several months. Because of this almost consistent yearly trend paddling opportunities transfer to the larger more reliable rivers which are few and far between in Indiana. Therefore the East Fork White possesses an always efficient water level to schedule a hot, mid-summer trip. Some of the states longest and numerous sandbars are located on this section numbering 21 of them at normal summer levels which provide an overly easy decision for a lunch stop as some reach nearly a quarter of a mile in length. The river usually averages between 125' to 200' in width with a gentle 2 m.p.h. current and contains no rapids whatsoever as it is classified as a simple float stream. Also of note we will paddle by three, old and very long historic bridges. The first will be the Vallonia 2-span Iron Bridge built in 1887 and 251 feet in length, the second is the old B&O 3-span railroad bridge constructed in 1898 with a length of 286 feet. The third and final bridge will be adjacent to our take-out at the Medora DNR access ramp with the historical Medora Covered Bridge coming in at a whopping 435 feet in length and built over a century and a half ago in 1875. It remains today as the longest historical (original) covered bridge in the country and will make every covered bridge you see after this one seem small in size and nature. There is a small park located here with brochures about the bridge and an easy walk through to the other end. This bridge was used on the original route of (coast to coast) U.S. 50. Up until 1972 it was S.R. 235 and had a stoplight on both ends due to its length. Our meeting time will be @1030 AM at the Brownstown DNR access site which is located 2 miles west of the courthouse on the (left)  aprox. 500 ft. from the SE corner of the US 50 bridge. It is located 72 miles from the center of Indy via I-65 south to exit 55 (SR 11) then 5 miles south to Seymour and US 50 then 12 miles west on 50 through Brownstown to the access site. We will paddle 9.4 miles from Brownstown to Medora and our shuttle is an easy 19 mile total all highway related. The nearby area offers some spectacular scenery via Skyline Drive with a historic 94 year old climbable fire tower in operation and 4 separate vistas that rival anything Brown County can supply. Also modern camping and a beach are close by at Starve Hollow SRA and primitive camping and hiking/walking trails rising over 1,000 feet are available in easily the finest, cleanest and most well-maintained state forest in the Hoosier state @ Jackson-Washington. Both are located only a few miles south of Brownstown in what is one of Indiana's truly hidden gems of scenery and nature. The club has ran this section previously in 2011, 2018 and most recently in 2021 and have had paddlers over the yeas from 5 different states attend (IN,MI,OH,KY & IL).                                               Please e-mail me at  canoeindiana@yahoo.com  or call (812)767-1317 by 8pm on Friday, July 10th                                                                                                                                   Sincerely, Richard Tekulve------East Fork White trip leader (since 2010)

If you have not done so for this year, PLEASE FILL OUT THE NEW E-WAIVER.   HCKC is moving to a new electronic waiver system instead of our old paper waiver.  This only needs to be completed once each year.  If you have already submitted your e-waiver, you do not need to do it again until next year.  If you are bringing a non-member guest, they should use this e-waiver.

HCKC E-Waiver: https://hoosiercanoeclub.org/E-Waiver/