Denton Creek, McInnish Park, Carrollton
The above kayak route map (click on map to enlarge) shows a trip on Denton Creek starting at the McInnish Park Launch in Carrollton Texas going to the dam at Lake Grapevine and back. The creek winds in and around some large homes, and near Grapevine the planes come in from the north to land at DFW airport. There may be a few log jams to be portaged, and there is a wide section of river at about the half way point that can be a bit shallow. Towards the west side of this wide section are two bypass channels that go around barriers in the creek. These bypass channels are new, narrow, lined with trees, and with some flooding may become blocked. And so pulling the boat straight through instead of taking them might be better. There is also a pipe a mile or so upstream of the launch that you have to go under or around depending on the water level; for this trip (~80 cfs) it was fine to go under. The last bit just before the dam is riffles and the boat has to be pulled to reach the golf course bridge and the ‘Restricted Area’ sign. Denton Creek tends to be more calm in windy conditions than the Elm Fork.
32.96746,-96.94256
Launch Site Google Maps Link
Above: This section has lots of willow trees.
Above: Early morning, fall paddle.
Above: This was a portage on the way upstream. Here I pulled the boat around the logs. Coming back I went directly through the logs… and got the boat stuck pretty good, which took a bit of pushing and pulling to get free.
Above: Turnaround point. Golf course bridge with Restricted Area sign and view of the Grapevine Dam and outlet into Denton Creek.
Above: Some small riffles coming back.
Above: Another short portage.
Above: A view of the area where the creek widens out and gets a bit shallow.
