Canoeing

Canoe Routes You have a choice of four waterways to canoe; the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers and Wildcat and Deer Creek. Many historical sites are on or new these waterways.

Carroll County is unique among counties in the region and in the state as the location of one of only three Natural and Scenic waterways Wildcat Creek. And the Northwest portion of the county is bisected by the Wabash River, the 13th largest in the nation and the western boundary of the county is formed by the Tippecanoe River, one of the longest in the state. Paddlers on all Carroll County water "trails" will see many historic sites.

The current launch point for the 45-mile floatable portion of Wildcat Creek begins just north of Burlington at the SR29 bridge. The state expects to construct a launch site on the northwest side of the bridge within a year. The National Register-listed 1872 Adams Mill Covered Bridge is 9.5 miles downstream from the SR29 bridge. Nearby is the 1845 Adams Mill that serves as a museum and still has much of flour grinding equipment displayed. Xenia (or Zenie) Bridge, 7.1 miles from Adams Mill, has a small area on the northwest side owned by the County from which a canoe can be launched, but parking is not currently available at that site. The County's only other covered bridge, Lancaster Bridge, constructed in 1870, is 2.7 miles from Xenia Bridge. Lancaster Bridge is being restored by the County and will also be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are three more Carroll County bridges on the Wildcat before it enters Tippecanoe County. Another, smaller creek, little known to outsiders, is Deer Creek. Its 23-mile floatable portion in Carroll County begins just south of the town of Deer Creek at the SR 29 bridge. Just east of Delphi, paddlers will pass under the 1897 Wilson’s Bridge. The iron, Pratt through-truss structure retains its original appearance and is also honored by being listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Downstream 1.3 miles, the creek passes under an 1891 wooden railroad trestle local residents call "High Bridge". At 852 feet long and 65 feet above the creek, its name is well deserved. It is said that High Bridge is the second highest and third longest railroad trestle in Indiana. This grand structure is eligible for listing in the National Register. Deer Creek winds through Delphi's Riley Park, about one-quarter mile south of the center of Delphi. Paddlers can obtain food and other necessities at the many retailers around Delphi’s historic Courthouse Square. The confluence of the creek and the Wabash River is 1.2 miles west of Delphi, near the site where the first settlers constructed their log cabins in 1826.

The newly opened Wabash & Erie Canal Interpretive and Conference Center is one and one-half miles south of the US421/SR39 bridge over the Wabash River, on Washington Street, in Delphi. Adjacent to the only portion of the canal which still contains water, the Center includes a museum that educates visitors about canal construction and commerce. There is a public boat ramp about one-quarter mile south of the bridge on the west side of the river, on County Road 950. Two restaurants are located on the east side of the bridge in the Town of Pittsburg. The National Register-listed Carrollton Bridge, a 615-foot, 6-span, concrete arch structure built in 1927, crosses over the Wabash at the junction of Carrollton Road and Towpath Road, about 6 miles north of Delphi.

The Tippecanoe River, with a reputation as one of the most scenic in the state, has few roads that cross its meandering path along the western border of the county. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources maintains a public access site at the County Road 725N bridge. Access to the bridge is west on County Road 700N, off US 421, about eight miles north of Delphi. Another launch site is found on the northwest side of the SR 18 bridge, about 6 miles west of Delphi, near County Road 1275W. A newly-constructed bridge on Bicycle Bridge Road crosses the "Tippe" about five miles west of Delphi. There is no public access site maintained at this location.

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