Being
a paddler is a tough hobby for someone living in the Black Hills. There are few
suitable runs, and all have short seasons dependent on recent rains. Even so,
my friends Karl and Tod had tried running a few creeks in kayaks, and friends
Craig and Don had explored a few of the rivers flowing outside the hills. I’m
not sure who put this trip together; but our plan was to try and paddle the
Redwater River from US 85 to US 212 near Belle Fourche. We would start at the
US 85 bridge about five miles south of town, and finish at a railroad bridge on
the east side of Belle Fourche.
Our Redwater River Paddle.
From
the start the river was a series of tight meanders winding through ranch lands.
The water was generally 2-3’ deep with a lot of riffles. There is a river gauge
on the Redwater above Belle Fourche, but I don’t know if we’d checked it, and
it likely it got too few paddlers for there to be a recommended flow back then.
We saw lots of birds along with ducks, deer, and a mink. This wasn’t a
wilderness paddle, the ranchers were using old car bodies for bank
stabilization.
After
about three hours we crossed the SD 34 bridge. The next section was
characterized by many old tires. There were two drainage diversion ditches; one
with a three foot drop, and the other with a 6 inch drop. The river was
noticeably shallower past the ditches. We had to cross two fences and one cable
across the river. We tipped the canoe twice. One time because we hit a tree,
and the other time while we were trying to run a large wave. Unfortunately, I
was in the stern both times. I spent about five minutes paddling Karl’s kayak
without tipping, but the boat was too small for me.
I
would paddle a few other times while living in the Black Hills (the Missouri in
ND with Craig, and the Niobrara in NB with a large group from work), but this
was my only paddle trip around the hills. For up to date information on
paddling the Red River: American Whitewater
Redwater River Link.
