Ausable,

Keeseville to US Route 9 (Ausable Chasm)

Usual Difficulty	IV+ (may vary with level)
Length	3 Miles

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
AUSABLE RIVER NEAR AU SABLE FORKS NY
usgs-04275500	240 - 1200 cfs	IV+	00h48m	1450 cfs (rc= 1.3 )

River Description

Boaters must access the Ausable just downstream of the powerhouse on river left to paddle the Chasm downstream. Access is blocked by the power company. AW is working to get public access in the relicensing of the project. We expect to have achieved formal river access by the summer of 2006.

The Ausable Chasm was paddled numerous times over the summer of 2005. The river is one of the most unique and beautiful in the Northeast. The river offers 6 to 8 high quality class IV rapids ranging from vertical ledges to long slides, to rapids laced with waves and holes. The best thing about the run: it is runnable on natural flow almost all summer and fall! After paddling the Chasm, paddlers must paddle out over a couple miles of swiftly moving but shallow flatwater.

There is no place else in the world like Ausable Chasm. For now access is blocked by the power company, but we are hopeful that 2006 will mark the beginning of a brand new summer paddling resource for New York and Vermont paddlers. Enjoy!

Look for access updates and more rapid photos and descriptions here soon!

See also

New York Area Boaters Get an Early Christmas Gift!, December 23, 2004
Yankee Ingenuity Alive and Well in Upper New York State, November 12, 2001;

Paddlers' Alert--Ausable River, February 14, 2002;

2002 Top 10 Conservation and Access Issues, November 14, 2002;

AW in the NorthEast, 2004;

River Stewardship Issues for 2004, October 7, 2004;

Comments on the Ausable, April 28, 2004; and

Ausable Chasm Open Flow Study Planned, May 31, 2005.


Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone.