Recent River Conditions

Please note the date of each entry below.

Conditions can change rapidly and NWIPA makes no assertions of the current conditions.

East Branch Little Calumet River

Surveyed August 10 2023

We have cleared up damage caused by the storms on July 28th and subsequent flooding. The section from Keith Walner to Howe Road is clear. Check water levels at the US Geological Survey link below. Landings are at Keith Walner preserve (a half mile below in IN-49 bridge) and Howe Road.

You can also paddle from Lake Michigan upstream to the Salt Creek confluence. Access this section from the Portage Lakefront beach - or if you are a member of the Izaak Walton Miller Chapter, from their boat landing.

The section from Brummitt to the Indiana 49 bridge (aka “Chesterton Rapids”) is not open, The bridge repair is finally complete, and we are working with Porter County and Shirley Heinze land trust to get the dock re-installed. No date has yet been set.

We have restarted working on the area west of Howe Road; expect updates on that stretch later in August.

Watch for weekly updates. Be aware also that river levels are currently fairly low for this time of year. Check US Geological Survey stream data here.

Trail Creek

Surveyed June 9, 2023

Trail Creek is clear from Lake Michigan upstream past Hansen Park all the way to Friendship Park.

Check US Geological Survey stream data here.

Deep River

Deep River was paddled on May 6, 2023:

The river can be paddled from the Lake Station Bicentennial launch to the area around Hobart’s rugby field. Water levels are low; expect to scrape bottom.

These notes are from a shoreline survey in the Fall of 2021.

With the construction of the Rock Riffle Project to mitigate the old and dangerous dam just downstream of Liverpool Road, the crest of the new structure is 2.5 feet lower than was the crest of the old dam, and this has negatively impacted navigability on the 7 miles of Deep River from just below the new railroad bridge at the Rugby Field access site to Liverpool Road.

The drop in river elevation has taken away the dam pool – which allowed for paddling and motorboating on Deep River in virtually all flows.  Travel was possible both upstream and downstream because the river current was dispersed in the water backed up by the old dam.

Now with the dam pool gone, there is no excess water in the river, visible current in the river, the water is much shallower (at normal flows), and the paddler may have to search for the deepest river channel.  Not only that, the combination of current and shallow water makes paddling upstream more challenging than it used to be.

There are at leat four places (possibly more) where passage may be difficult:

a)     Just downstream of the railroad bridge by the Rugby Field access.  Used to be that one could float through the narrow opening just downstream of the bridge.  Now with the dam pool gone, old bricks, concrete chunks, and railroad ties are exposed, which may necessitate getting out of one’s boat 

b)     At the Rt. 51 bridge.  Before the dam project was finished, several of the spans under the bridge were blocked by logs/wood.  Now with the river lower, passage may be further impeded.

c)     Just downstream of the Riverview Park access, there is a small island in the middle of the river, and passage past this island was always in very shallow water.  Now, passage on the left side of the island is impossible at normal flows, and there is only a very small opening on the right side of the island.

d)     Just upstream of the Veteran’s Memorial/Bicentennial Park access.  Visible not far upstream are logs collecting floating algae and other logs that might be difficult to paddle through

There may be other formerly submerged logs or debris in other places that make passage difficult.

The above comments are written based on shore-scouting the river.  If any readers have additional comments (and photos) based on paddling the river, please email them to blueways@nwipa.org

For reference, the river was scouted at a flow of 93 cfs at the USGS gage just below Lake George

US Geological Survey stream data here.

Galien River

Lower section surveyed May 13, 2023. Section between US-12 and Glassman Park has not been surveyed this year.

The river is clear between Lake Michigan and US-12/Red Arrow Highway.

WARNING! The gap between the water surface and the bottom of the Red Arrow Highway bridge varies in height daily. Note also that there is no public landing on the west side of the bridge, preventing portage around the bridge.

Two common routes that avoid the low bridge involve paddling upstream and back. Putting in at the public access on Red Arrow Highway, one encounters some narrow but passable spots 3 miles upstream to Glassman Park. Putting in at New Buffalo's beach or boat ramp, there are no obstructions in the main channel up 2.5 miles to the Red Arrow Bridge; on the day surveyed, water levels were so high it was possible to cut off a quarter mile by paddling through the wetlands as shown by dashed line.

US Geological Survey stream data here.