Saturday 4-21-18
 

On Saturday a small group will be meeting at Beaver Creek State Park
11991 Echo Dell Rd, East Liverpool, OH 43920

At 2pm, and paddle about 6 miles from the main park to Fredericktown and pull out before the rapids at the St Rt 170 Bridge.

Any question call or text me
330-766-3129
Mike

What a great paddle on one of my favorite Creeks.
Five paddlers made the trip from the State Park to Fredericktown. Total of 6.5 miles under two hours.
USGS 4.99 ft. Grimm's Bridge

NOTE, there is no take out available in Fredericktown anymore. The spot I knew now has tons of no trespassing signs all over it.

Jodi, Mark, Ron, Jessica and myself had a great paddle.

Only down side is my knee is really sore, I won't be paddling on sunday.
Mike

Take out?
 

I assume the posted area is on river right just upstream of the Rte 170 bridge along that little street right next to the creek? If it had No Trespassing signs, where was today’s take out?

About 100 yards upstream, same side. We parked in a grassy area along the road, just before the road makes the bend to go up the hill. Space for just a few vehicles. I wouldn't have been surprised if the local PD had left us some love notes, but we went unscathed.

Fredericktown has long had river access issues. Beaverkettle Farms, a major private property owner in the area, used to issue permits for individuals to hike on their lands until last year when it revoked all such permits. Increasingly, individuals were abusing the property, particularly a spot call The Tubs on the North Fork of Little Beaver Creek. Some threatened the employees of Beaverkettle Farms. Hence the crackdown. I don’t know who owns the land on river right upstream from the Route 170 bridge, but I woulnd’t be surprised if the No Trespassing signs are, in some way, related to the recent effort to keep the bad actors out of that beautiful locale.

from an earlier post...

Fredrickstown looks to be one of the most (paddler) unfriendly areas I've seen. It's almost impossible to find a place to park. Just a couple of spots upstream of the bridge. In "town" every possible spot is marked private/ no parking/keep out. Even the couple of churches there have no parking/violators will be prosecuted signs up. KenM-
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I think a bit of research may be in order here. I may be wrong but I wonder if all or some of those no trasspassing signs are just put up by a local person to discourage paddlers because of some incident or preceived threat by us paddlers? There is no property maps that I can find online. I might call the Columbiana Co. auditor or engineers office and ask for a property map of that area along the river (Old Fredricktown Rd). Try to find out who really owns that strip of land between the road and the river.

And the state of Ohio must own some of the land around to the road and Rt 170 bridge. .. if any of it is "parkable".

KenM

My google search of "Beaverkettle Farms" revealed a few news articles, which explain some of the hostility. I would be interested to know more about the ownership of the property along the right bank, upstream of the bridge. Would be a prime spot for a small ODNR launch and parking area. Something tells me the locals would protest, and must have some sway in the county.

The Vodrey family, owner of Beaverkettle Farms, is highly devoted to natural resource conservation. Mr. Jack Vodrey was the chairman of the Little Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River Advisory Council for over forty years until he relinquished the job a couple years ago. I think he is also in the Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame.

From the articles, my impression is that the family does indeed have great respect for the natural area, but I also felt it seemed as though they were burdened by the fear of liability, and they claimed to be paying taxes on 4000-some acres.

The Cook family gifted property to PA for Cook Forest SP. The park is one of the most popular in PA, is secured and maintained by the state, and the family maintains their rights to their homesteads and businesses - which thrive from the tourists.

Making such an arrangement sounds like something that a nature lover would find to be a win-win situation.