Description
Miles and miles of floatable river. From it's mouth at the Ohio River, Highland Creek flows 7 miles through Kentucky Sloughs Wildlife Management Area and then another 22 or so miles through primarily farmland. It stays roughly around fifty feet wide until a mile or so past Highway 60 between Corydon and Waverly where it starts to split in to several different creeks and then further down starts splitting again while decreasing in width. Unless after a major rain, don't expect any flow.
Trip Report
Even though it's called a creek it felt more like a small river. There wasn't any flow during our late June visit which made it a much easier out and back trip. We put in at the Uniontown Ohio River access ramp and paddled the Ohio to the mouth of the creek. I would recommend putting in at the bridge located on Mount Vernon Road and save yourself the hassle of paddling the Ohio. Although we didn't scout for any other put-in or take-out options, I would imagine many of the numerous bridges spanning the creek could be used for access. I'm not really sure how far we traveled up the creek, but it's marked by another small creek that branched off to the south. It's the first creek from the mouth on the right capable of being floated. Going by aerial photos and the first creek, that appears to be floatable, I estimate about 2 miles in. For me, the best part of the trip was this side creek. It was just deep enough to float and zig zagged it's way for quite a while. We made our way through and over four different small log jams until we met a substantial and unpassable log jam. We could have portaged around with a bit of effort and creativity, but the creek was getting tighter and more shallow and we didn't see much point in continueing. We turned around and headed for home at this point. Overall, I can't say Highland Creek was anything spectacular scenery wise. It's pretty much the same tree lined scenery you would expect from any of the average small rivers and creeks around here. Even so, it's a change of water for paddlers in the area and worthy of floating at least through some of slough area.
Location
Mouth of creek is in Uniontown, Kentucky. Creek travels east & then southeast passing between Corydon and Waverly under Highway 60. It then continues south and then east ending between Tilden and Poole, Kentucky.
View map showing full length of Highland Creek
Facilities
Uniontown, Corydon and Waverly have grocery stores and gas stations for whatever you may need before starting your trip. Morganfield is 7 miles south of Uniontown on State Road 130 if you require more options.