BEAR CREEK B FIRST RAPID; CALL IT "SWEET SURPRISE" by CaptainAleve, alias Mike Coogan, on Flickr
After a short pool below the fall, the creek comes to the first road crossing and the only real hazard on the whole run: pipe culverts under the road. There are a couple of 18” to 24” pipes carrying some of the flow under the concrete slab crossing that you will not want to get close to, especially if you swim out of your boat at the fall. The fall is not difficult, just a straight run over the middle of the ledge, so I’m not anticipating any problems. It will be best to send an experienced boater (with a helmet cam) over first to act as a safety boat. It is an easy fall to walk around, so that is always an option as well as having boaters on foot with ropes below the fall.
The creek gets wider after the first road crossing and the rapids begin to contain larger rocks that will have to be maneuvered around. There is a rapid that requires you to weave around some large outcrops from the bank; there is plenty of room to maneuver in that one. A couple of fast, straight chutes are the only other rapids in this section before you arrive at the large pool above the second road crossing.
The last 0.6 miles contains more action with lots of small ledges (2’-3’) sort of like Hot Springs Creek has, with most of them being straight shots. The last thrill of the day arrives as the creek crosses the spine of the last ridge before the take-out. A beautiful hillside of nearly solid rock forms the backdrop to a good sized pool that ends in a 4’ ledge that runs across the creek at a 45 degree angle. Once again, the best run is down the middle. Walking around this (or maybe even paddling around on river right) is possible, but the brush is very thick along the right bank. The creek has a riffle or two in the next 200 feet before you arrive at the take-out pool.
If you think you would like to paddle this creek with me, post here. An inch of rain should bring it up to a runnable level, and rain is expected on Monday and later in the week of March 17-23. I can paddle any day and hope to catch some water in the creek soon. It is located about 20 miles north of Hot Springs in the Ouachita National Forest. Those two road crossings should be passable with a pickup truck to make the shuttle in to the put-in at a moderate water level.
Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve
"Oh Mike is the great... Decender" 
