Trip Suggestion:

Craig's Creek Lake
Mile 530

By Capt. Eric

If you haven't ventured past the Markland Locks and Dam, I would highly recommend this trip. From Louisville, you could do the trip in two days, but I'd recommend taking the time to relax and spend some time up that way.

With a great river report and weather forecast in hand, we left Prospect in the morning and headed north. For the big picture, Prospect is at Mile 590, Markland Lock is Mile 531 and Craig's Creek is Mile 530. You're looking at a 60 mile trip plus 30 minutes (plus delays) for the lock. I'll let you do the math for your cruising speed and fuel consumption, but make sure to take a 2 mph current into account for the trip upriver. North of the River's Edge Marina, the Rivercrest Marina in Madison is your last chance for fuel before the Markland Lock.

For the trip, I would recommend that you have at a minimum a set of USACE River Charts and a set of binoculars. They will assist you in finding the nuns and cans along the way. Also, the binoculars will help you identify towboats from a distance and help you to determine a safe course of action for meeting situations. A VHF radio is helpful for the locks.

Before launching on your adventure, it's also helpful to call ahead to find out about hours of operation and fuel availability, especially if you're going during the week. We found Smuggler's Cove to have plenty of availability for docking during the week and made a reservation. Pier 99 and Turtle Creek were also highly recommended in the area, but we chose Smuggler's Cove for our trip because of the restaurant located across the street. If you're feeling lucky, Belterra can send a courtesy shuttle to shuttle you to the casino and back.

As you head north of Carrolton, the two narrowest parts are Craig's Bar and the Vevay Bar. Wouldn't you know we met a tow at Craig's Bar, about the narrowest part of the trip. We coordinated the passing via radio, but it certainly was a narrow stretch between the channel markers with a downbound tow.

You can find information on locking in another article, so I'll skip the details here. They are used to accommodating pleasure craft, and were helpful in having the small chamber ready for us. The kids love the whole locking experience.

Once you exit the Markland Locks, you will see Belterra Casino to the left on the Indiana shore and Smuggler's Cove and the entrance to Craig's Creek on the right.

Above, Belterra Casino on the left.

Above, the entrance to Craig's Creek. You will see a bridge with depth markings, and to the left a BP sign and an ad for Smuggler's Cove ("Keep left past bridge"). If you are going to Smuggler's Cove, you will see and island in the middle. Be sure to stay well clear of the island, as it is shallow there. Keep between the markers as you approach.

As you look to the right coming in, you'll see Pier 99 Marina to the right just around the corner from the boat ramp, above.

Above, the 100-300 slips at Smugglers Cove

Further left, above, is the fuel dock at Smuggler's Cove.

Above, around the other side of Smuggler's Cove the 400-600 slips. To the right and behind would be the store and restrooms/showers, below.

Inside the store, we were greeted by Tim Meyer, Owner. He runs Smuggler's Cove Marina, as well as the hotel across the street. They lease out the restaurant facility, and have camping sites along the river bank.

Above, views from the campground behind the restaurant. You can see Markland Locks and Dam in the distance.

Overall Experience:

We found the trip up the river to be scenic. On the way home, we stopped for the night at the KY River in Carrolton (another article) and had lunch the following day in Madison. We found that breaking a longer trip into smaller segments made it very enjoyable, even for the children.

As for Smuggler's Cove, we have nothing but great things to say about their service. When I first called them, they provided directions for entering the marina and told me about the clearance markings on the bridge (20' at normal pool). They told me how to find them and what to watch out for. The have a great ship's store with parts and supplies to beer and ice cream. They had DVDs to rent, but we didn't find any for the kids. Speaking of the kids, they were a little freaked out by the concept of the bullfrog spears for sale--ah, memories. This is the location that was formerly "Dan's" if somebody tells you to go there.

One last word about going into Craig's Creek--watch your speed between the bridge and the marinas. They have a brand new no-wake zone that the marinas like but the residents are unhappy with, and you can face a $200 fine for creating a wake. The first I heard about it was a sign in the marina store, then on this forum. Good thing we kept the speed down going in there.