Information on Mormon Creek
Rating: IV (IV+)
TDCR: 7895
Location: Drive north on Hwy 215 from I-40 (the Mulberry exit) about
five miles to the bridge over Mill Cr. This is the takeout.
To reach the put-in, go north from the Mill Cr. bridge
on Hwy 215 approximately 3 miles. There you will see an Ozark
National Forest sign on the right. Go past this sign and look
for the first well-maintained road on the left (it should be
fairly obvious, since the others "roads" are old logging roads
and skitter trails). Follow this road until it dead ends at a
berm. There is a trail that has been beat down to the left of
the bern, and a big 4WD truck can make it down, but it is only
a 1/3 mile drag down to the creek, so why not park at the top.
Topo Quad(s): Mountainburg SE
Gradient: 330 fpm
Length: 1.5 mi.
Season: FLOOD
Gauge: Mormon Cr. is tiny. It doesn't need much water to make
a good run, but the level will not hold long at all. It
can generally be paddled for only a couple of hours follwing
heavy downpours of rain. Look for 2+" in under 2 hours to
pump the creek up. The Mulberry should be flooded, probably
8 feet or higher on the Mulberry gauge. A visual check should
be made at the Mill Cr. bridge (the take-out). Mill Creek
should be bank-full or better, meaning ALL of the rocks in
the rapid above the bridge should be covered and the water
should be very muddy. If you get to the put-in and there
looks like there's enough water to scrape down in a boat,
it's probably a good level. If you're not scraping down
the first long slide, the level is extremely high and
hazardous.
Hazards: The 20+ foot drop of Mammer Jammer is certainly a
serious hazard! The entire creek is fast and shallow,
so it is nowhere to be upside down in your boat! Trees
can be (and usually are) a serious threat. Often, you
may not have any eddies to stop in for long distances,
and with the extremely narrow streambed, trees can
easily block the entire creek. Scouting ahead from every
you can get in eddy is a very good idea, and be prepared
to hit a tree somewhere on the run.
Description: Mormon Creek was first run February 15, 2001, by
Steve "Dog" Robertson and Micah "Nick" Adams. Mormon creek
does not have a name on any maps, but the closest landmark
is an old Latter Day Saints church, and thus the name.
It begins as a small sandstone ditch that is almost
laughable when one considers this a "runnable" creek,
however it is not to be taken lightly. The put-in starts
one of the longest slides in the Ozarks, at least
1/2 mile long, with numerous 3 to 6 foot ledges to
generate interest. There aren't any major tributaries to
Mormon Cr., but hundreds of little creeks cascading down
the sandstone/shale bluffs gradually contribute to
the water level and volume picks up steadily as you go
downstream. Several bigger ledges signal the beginning
of the gorge, so when you encounter these, it's time
to strap on your seat belt. At high water, the creek
will come at you incredibly fast with few eddies to
stop in. The first major drop, "UH", is a nice "sluice-
with-rocks" type drop of about 6 to 8 feet. Pull out to
scout this and the next rapids too, since it is followed
immediately by "OH", a 12-15' near vertical slide with a
shallow landing. Recover quickly because at the end of the
pool (25 yards) below OH is "Snake Eyes", a potentially
nasty class IV drop. This whole area is reminicent of a
tea-cup style series of drops, dropping a total of 15-20
feet onto a sandstone slide that ends in a pool. The rapid
gets its name from the large boulder that looks like a dice
(showing the number two) lodged in the left side of the
drop. At low water, the drop should be run from the left
at a 45 degree angle to the right; at high water run it
anyway you can! Now, you're in the heart of the gorge,
consisting of a narrow, winding closed in sandstone
trough surrounded by undercut sandstone and shale walls.
The big drops are surrounded by huge undercut bluffs
that look like a backdrop to an Anasazi village. After
Snake Eyes there is constant class III until the biggest
drop is encountered: the Mammer Jammmer. This class IV+
monster is a 20-25' drop that begins as a vertical 10'
drop before landing on a 60 degree angle slide. At
low water levels the majority of water flows over the
right side of the drop producing a vertical drop that
crashes onto a rock shelf. The drop is not safely
runnable on the right line at any level! The optimal
route is the far left where the water has worn a "V" in
the lip of the drop, followed by a steep slide to the
bottom. No mater what line is used, boofing the drop is
not a good idea at all. Mammer Jammer is follwed by one
a good class III drop called "Sycamore". This one consists
of a double drop connected by a slide. Watch out for the
sycamore tree at the bottom of the first drop; the only
route shoots you directly into the giant undercut roots
of the Sycmore. If you don't get pinned on the roots
you're off to a nice ride down the slide/drop. This is
followed by one of the most beautiful corridors of
hanging plants/waterfalls in the Ozarks. The rapid under
this natural wonder is named "Bobsled", since it feels
like running a bobsled track through an ethereal setting.
After the big drops above, the rest of the run is cake,
with lots of fast class III drops to paddle. When you
get to Mill Cr., it will be big and bad, like a high
water run on the Hailstone with huge waves. There are
also many surfing opportunities on the paddle out, with
dozens of Lee Cr. style surfing holes and waves. You'll
probably be completely worn out when you reach the
take-out bridge. Mormon is a tiny little creek that
does some big things when it comes to slides and
waterfalls. Like Horsehead Cr. and Rattlesnake Hollow,
the biggest challenge for a paddler will be stopping.
If the water level is very high at all, you may not
be able to stop if there is a tree down in the creek,
or you may be swept over a drop you'd rather not run.
Make sure you're comfortable paddling this type of
sub-micro steep creek before you put on.
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