I asked where you put in and take out for a reason. This may be a bit long, but… The take out is on County Road 427. CR 427 dead ends at a little gate made of metal pipes. It is not locked. It is about a 200 yard walk down a dirt road from the gate to the creek. That 200 yard walk is across private property. In years past, that private property was owned by an absentee landowner in Florida, Roger Boos. This year, Roger sold all his land to Dwayne Ellis. Dwayne is part owner of Ellis Battery in Cherokee Pass. He lives in the great big new house you can see if you look to the left as you drive down CR 427 toward the take out. Dwayne is a nice guy, and he doesn’t mind kayakers. If you ask permission from Dwayne, I can’t believe he would say, “No.” Now… Here’s the sticky part… The last canyon you paddle through before the take out is part of 60 acres owned by three families, the Judds, Petersons, and Hoods. One of the Hoods, Kirk Hood, does not like people on the land or waters of the 60 acres, and he has been the source of conflict often mentioned when the subject of the take out arises. The Hoods and Judds are also part owners of the last little house on the right, at the end of CR 427, and Kirk is often there on weekends. Whether he has any legal authority to tell people they can’t park on the side of a County road (CR 427), or walk across land he does not own (Dwayne Ellis), he tries to tell people they can’t. I know all of this because I am a Peterson and one of the part owners of the last canyon on the creek. Kirk does not have authority to tell people they can’t park on the side of CR 427, and if permission is granted by Dwayne Ellis to take out at the gravel road and walk 200 yards to a vehicle, the only thing Kirk might be able to object to is paddling down Marble Creek through 60 acres owned, in part, by his family (actually, his mother). Without a court determination of navigability, I don’t know if he has a right to deny floaters access to the creek. I know he does not if they have permission to float through the sixty acres owned by the Judds, Petersons, and Hoods, if one of the families grant permission. I grant you permission. And he does not if Dwayne Ellis grants permission to take out and walk 200 yards across his property. That permission is up to you. I can’t grant that on behalf of Mr. Ellis.
By the way, I also own the south side of Lower Rock Creek where it crosses Hwy E. If anyone wants to run Lower Rock Creek and take out at Hwy. E, I grant that permission as well. There’s not much parking space, but I own the dirt road next to the bridge (south side) and a car or two can park there.
Alan Peterson