Bear Creek, South Branch (Garret County, MD)

Accident, Maryland to Bear Creek                5.9 miles

Class           Grad                    Size (Area/Volume)                  Scene/Poll             Level

III-IV      107/154                         Tiny (/)                                A/A                          

                                                                                                                         Freindsville

Topographic Maps: McHenry (Md), Sang Run (Md), Accident (Md), Friendsville (Md)

County Maps: Garrett (Md)

Description: The first half to two-thirds of this run consists of a rather steady gradient with rapids of about Class III difficulty, much of the creek being a little wider than the length of a boat. Then it gets steeper with bigger rocks studding the streambed and one drop after another. This stream is sometimes called Little Bear Creek, but it should not be confused with the Little Bear Creek, which flows into Bear Creek east of US Route 219, 2 miles northeast of Accident.

Difficulties: The major difficulty throughout was created by logs and trees, sometimes completely across the stream, sometimes only across part of it, sometimes above water level, sometimes at water level, sometimes a little below water level. [Reported 1985]

Shuttle: To get to the put-in, follow Bear Creek Road out of Friendsville to Accident Road, which intersects from the right; follow Accident Road to Accident. At the intersection with US Route 219, turn right on US Route 219 past the Meadow Motel. Drive south about 2 miles. In a depression at the tight bend in the road, there are two turn-offs to the right about 100 yards apart. They are opposite ends of the same short road paralleling US Route 219, and the put-in is along this road. To get to the take-out, return along Accident Road. A few hundred yards from the intersection with Bear Creek Road, a bridge crosses the South Branch of Bear Creek about 25 yards from its junction with the Bear Creek main stem. This is about a mile east of Friendsville.

Gauges: If it's too scrapy to float a boat at the put-in, don't even think about running it. The Friendsville gauge on nearby Youghiogheny River will probably read between 4.3 and 5.0 feet.

Normal Wet Period: No available statistics on seasons. Since this section is tiny, it should normally be runnable only after a heavy rain or during spring snowmelt.