Black Creek Wild & Scenic River, MS (12/04-1/05)

From my article "Three Multi-Day Flatwater Trips within a Day’s Drive from Nashville...", in the TSRA Watershed...

Black Creek Wild & Scenic River in MS

difficulty: moderate

Putting in at Camp Dantzler bridge, the river is pretty narrow, about the width of a two-lane road. Houses along the banks overlook the river for the first few miles, giving the float that trespassy feeling. Strainers and mud rapids (large deposits of clay that looked and behaved like boulders) made for some challenging navigation. After the confluence with Big Creek, the river slowed and widened. Throughout the float to Fairley Bridge, the river narrowed and widened as more tributary creeks joined the flow. Clay “bluffs” followed the river banks periodically, a reminder of recent floods. Throughout the float, strainers resulting from the floods posed the biggest challenge. Tall pine trees lined the banks, ensuring occasional river-wide strainers even at the widest points. Wildlife sightings included a great blue heron, a beaver, wood ducks and an escaped domestic duck, deer, two wayward hunting dogs and several teenagers with an automatic rifle. We figured the ducks and the deer were in no grave danger the day we saw the teenagers.

For the backpackers and day hikers, Black Creek Wilderness Trail follows the river from Big Creek Landing to Fairley Bridge for a distance of 30 miles. Except for the areas with houses, the trail stays relatively close to the river.

The river is runnable pretty much year round. As long as river levels stay below 7ft on the USGS gauge, finding campsites along the river should not be difficult. Also, campgrounds are maintained by NFS at several access points. None are terribly large and many are right along fast roads, making more of a car camping atmosphere. Because Black Creek is a blackwater stream, you will need to pack in your own water, but you can access drinking water at the NFS campgrounds for refills if needed.

We used Black Creek Canoe Rental to run our shuttle. We ran 38 miles of this river, including the 21 mile Wild & Scenic section, over six days at the 2004/2005 confluence. The weather was warm and sunny... 60s and 70s during the day, 50s at night... so yes, you can paddle year round even if you don't like the cold. When in doubt, head south!