Contoocook, |
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| Name | Range | Updated | Level |
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| CONTOOCOOK RIVER NEAR HENNIKER, NH | 6.50 - 12.00 ft | 01h20m | 6.92 ft (rc= 0.1 ) |
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Put in elevation........550' Take out elevation......400' Total drop..............150' Average drop/mile.......50' Distance................3.0 miles River width average.....50' River geology...........Small to medium granite boulders River water quality.....Fair to good, clarity fair to good. Scenery.................Good forested scenery, a few homes along the way. Wildlife................Deer, Merganzers, Blue herons.
Contoocook USGS gage is located at the bottom of S-turn rapid. The river generally peaks about 36 to 48 hours after a rain event. Forecast
Level interpertation
USGS Gauge CFS Intepretation 5.6'-6.6' 233-563 Minimum to scratchy level 6.6'-7.8' 563-1230 Low 7.8'-8.4' 1230-1680 Low to medium 8.4'-9.5' 1680-2900 Medium 9.5'-11.0' 2900-5300 High over 11.0' >5300 Very high
Estimated chance (%) of finding the river runnable.
Month............% chance....comment January .............3%....Frozen February.............3%....Frozen March...............35%....Especially late in month during early thaws. April...............90%....Most dependable month May ................60% June................20% July.................5% August...............5% September...........20%....Tropical storms and their remains October.............30%....Trees go dormant less water being absorbed by them November............60% December............50%....River starts freezing up around Christmas.
Be aware this is averaged out over several years. The % chance refers to the probability of finding the river running on any given day. For instance a 5% probability for July means on average you can only expect 1.5 days of water. One year there could be 3 days in July with water other years none. Spring levels are usually higher than fall levels.
Why does that gage level go up and down?
On occassion a regular up down or "sawtooth" pattern will be noticed when looking at the USGS 7 day graph. This is caused by releases well upstream of the gage. Releases come from several hydro and flood control reservoirs upstream including Nubanusit Lake, Edward MacDowell Reservoir, Highland Lake, Lake Franklin Pierce, and other reservoirs upstream. However, releases from the Monadnock Paper mill located 22 miles upstream in Bennington are usually responsible for the most notable rise and fall of the gage. This is most noticable at low botable levels betweeen 5' and 7' on the gage. Releases from the Paper mill reservoir can raise the level 300 cfs. If the gage is a 6' for a baseline, the added 300 cfs can bring levels up to 7'. Because of the distance upstream daily releases do not start to reach the gage until the afternoon, then usually peak in late afternoon to early evening. Note that this occurs rather frequently and usually for a number of days in a row, but almost never occurs on weekends unless the mill is behind with their customer's orders.
| Name | Range | Updated | Level | ||||||
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| CONTOOCOOK RIVER NEAR HENNIKER, NH | |||||||||
| usgs-01085000 | 6.50 - 12.00 ft | 01h20m | 6.92 ft (rc= 0.1 ) | ||||||
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| When | River/Gauge | Subject | Level | Reporter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contoocook River [NH] |
S-Turn map
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n/a | Mark Lacroix | |
| 145d10h45m | Freight Train [NH] | 8.23 on the gauge about 1700 cfs | n/a | n/a |
| 145d10h48m | Freight Train [NH] | Account of 06/16/09 | n/a | n/a |
| 6y204d09h49m | Contoocook [NH] |
Boof that boat
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8.5 feet | Patrick Rogers |
| 6y211d09h49m | Contoocook [NH] |
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2600 CFS | Patrick Rogers |
| 7y189d09h49m | Contoocook [NH] |
Middle Drop at Frieght Train
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7.7 Feet | Mark Lacroix |
| 7y224d09h49m | Contoocook [NH] |
Entrance playhole
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8.1 | Mark Lacroix |
| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Rivers of the lower Contoocook region |    | |
| 0.1 | Entrance | II+ |  |
| 0.4 | Broken dam | III | |
| 0.5 | Powerline | II+ | |
| 1.0 | S-turn | III+ | |
| 1.9 | Frieght Train | IV | |
Playfull little rapid with lots of surfing possibillities. The hole at the bottom of this rapid is the best on the river. Great playspot.
Stay left of center then move left. Right side of this rapid has left over dam debris.
Great surfing and play area. Hole by the rock in river center left under the power lines is a good ender spot.
River takes a sharp right then drops through a long series of twisting channels, holes, and other goodies. River right at the top of the rapid has a nice 4' to 6' verticle drop between boulders at levels above 8.6'. The last two ledges on the river should be run from center (first ledge) to right (last ledge) to avoid stickey holes. Last ledge has a stickey trashy playspot on the left.
Long rapid with large holes. Stay in the middle to avoid nasty pourovers and pinning spots along both shores. All holes in the middle can be punched but may flip you. At levels above 9.5 there is a nice surfing wave on river left about 3/4 of the way through the rapid.
The map on the right shows the old take out prior to June of 2004. Be aware this takeout could shortly or may even be now posted "No tresspassing". The new take out is river left 3/4 of a mile further downstream just past the twin truss bridges.
River Alert
State News
River Links
NWRI - Contoocook 2. Hillsborough to Henniker (mobile)
User Comments
the gauge and freight train was an easy III at best.
where the river comes back near the road. A big tree fell into the water about 175-200 yards
upstream from the gauge at the turn of the river. It is just above the ledge drops at the bottom of
"S" turn. Also a big branch from this tree washed downriver and is now stuck in the middle of the
second ledge drop. It can be avoided by running towards the left. Use caution!