A fun Whitewater Canoe trip - Harpers's Ferry Area -

SummitCnty said:

Question about Antietam Creek.

I’m putting in on Saturday at Devils Backbone and was planning on floating to the take out at Burnside Bridge Road or the one on 34. Is there parking at either of those to leave a vehicle? I am driving there tomorrow after work to scout it out and can’t remember if you can park on the shoulder of 34 and I’ve never been to the take out just down from the bridge. I know there is a place just up the road on 34 that has a small parking lot with picnic tables and such.

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tallen702 said:

So, officially classification for whitewater rapids is determined by the ability to self rescue combined somewhat with the difficulty of maneuvering. A short class II on a river with a long still pool with no current below it rapidly becomes a class III when it is followed up immediately by another rapid that would impair your ability to self-rescue. Similarly, a Class III on the upper New River Gorge like "Surprise" is solidly a III because the pool below is slow and calm and the rapid can easily be skirted river left by simply avoiding the ledge. Throw Surprise into a steep sided narrow canyon and suddenly it's now a III+ pushing a IV due to the difficulty of rescue. Tack another rapid on to it less than 50 yards down stream and it's a straight IV.

It should also be noted that most whitewater boating organizations also agree to err on the side of caution for the novice paddler when giving ratings to rapids. Prevents them from getting on a reach that would be over their heads by calling a potential III a II*

As for a Class VI, that means "un-runnable in an open boat" Once a rapid has been shot successfully, it's no longer a VI, but a five-point-something with each decimal place being one order of magnitude higher than a V. Example, a 5.1 is the same degree of difficulty higher than a five as it is from a IV to a V.

Golf Course at certain water levels is definitely a 3 and there's not much room to maneuver outside of portaging if you look to skirt it at higher water levels. AW has always rated it a III/III- and I tend to take Charlie Wallbridge's opinion on these things as fairly close to gospel.

I grew up on the NRG and Cheat BTW. Lower NRG has V's on it when the water level is right. Shoot, it's got two certifiable Vs when flowing normally. Upper Gauley during dam release is straight IVs and Vs without much room to swim if you're out of the boat. Cheat Canyon is fun, but with much longer pools than the Gauley. One of my favorites I ever ran was the Savage during dam release. Nothing bigger than a IV, but it's just continuous whitewater the whole way down. No slack water at all with few eddies to hold up in. Just constant Class II-III whitewater with a couple of big, gnarly Class-IV drops.

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tallen702 said:

There's space for a few cars just downstream of the little run-of-the-river dam that services the river gauge there. I've attached a photo from google street view for you below. Coordinates are: 39.448541, -77.727608 using google maps.

If you want an easy time of it, call Antietam Creek Canoe and have them set shuttle for you. It's like 25 or 30 bucks to have them do it and saves you a ton of driving and worry.

You CAN take out where 34 crosses over. There's limited parking, river left as you're going under the bridge. Alternatively, you can park at one of the pull-offs on 34 on river right (downstream side of the road up the hill a little from the barn) and then bring your car down to meet your boats if you don't mind a little bit of a walk.

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sandeman said:

rember beer the Cheat River it is no joke.This was my favorite white water experience.Be Shure your raft mates are "bad ass".

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SummitCnty said:

Question about Antietam Creek.

I’m putting in on Saturday at Devils Backbone and was planning on floating to the take out at Burnside Bridge Road or the one on 34. Is there parking at either of those to leave a vehicle? I am driving there tomorrow after work to scout it out and can’t remember if you can park on the shoulder of 34 and I’ve never been to the take out just down from the bridge. I know there is a place just up the road on 34 that has a small parking lot with picnic tables and such.

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Gonna do the whitewater tubing tomorrow. Didnt think I would like it this much because I am an ocean person, but what a blast and its beautiful out here.

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