Red

Half of the reach as it was  historically boated lies within tribal lands of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians. Under current Tribal Law, all non-tribal members are banned from accessing any waters within their tribal lands.

Exactly as on the Menomonee Reservation, punishment (if you are caught) can include not only a fine and/or imprisonment, but may also include confiscation of all material items used in commission of the trespass. This could mean not only your boat and gear, but the vehicles you used for the shuttle!

In the past there had been a suggestion that paddlers could secure permission from a tribal conservation officer. However, (as of Aug.2007) reports are that all such requests are being denied.  Thus, the first half of this section should be considered OFF LIMITS until or unless arrangements and agreements (such as are in place with the Menominee for Sec.4 of the Wolf) might be worked out.

We have left description of the upper part of the run in place, in the remote possibility that such agreements might ever be made. All features in the upper part of the run have been designated by negative mileage (I.E., distance upstream from the location of the first access not involving trespass).

A small shoals at this former put-in is an onsite indicator of the river level. If these look scrapy, the rest of the run will also be scrapy. The initial mile+ of the run is a meandering float through the forest, interspersed with occasional tame (class I-II) rapids.

Look for a pooling and a narrow drop between boulders. At times in the past, trees have lodged against the boulders, raising the height of the drop to about 4', and may sometimes obstruct the channel. At high flows, there is a hole which may backender boats here. Below, there is a good recovery area and then an 'S' drop (left then right) which can have a very low footbridge in the outflow. The footbridge is not anchored well so at times, higher flows will push this aside to allow passage. Use eddies and exercise caution here. A flatwater section follows.

When you come to a footbridge spanning the river and a house on river-left, this is the signal to get out river-right to scout Suzie's Falls. (Stay off the footbridge and the private property on river-left.) This is the steepest and most complex/difficult drop on the upper run.

At high flows, clearance under the footbridge will be slim or non-existent! Immediately after the bridge, the river jumps off a short (~3') ledge into a bit of a rolling boil, and is immediately diverted 90-degrees to the left, ~10-15' down a wide dome of bedrock. At the base, it encounters additional humps of bedrock which divert it nearly 90-degrees to the right, dropping across another short ledge.

High flows will create some interesting holes and waves, making this steep pitch a bit intimidating. The crux move here is running the top ledge and hole in control, as a flip there will likely mean lost skin at the very least. The good-sized pool below allows easy recovery of gear for those unsuccessful at negotiating the drop.

AW does have a listing for this tributary, but (like the Upper Red above this point) it is 'off-limits'.

While the West Branch does have a few fine bits of gradient, but most are choked with wood (being a smaller stream). The best and final gradient on it lies about a mile upstream of this confluence.

From this point, to most any take-out point downstream, the vast majority of land surrounding the river is no longer Stockbridge-Munsee/Mohican reservation property. However, there are a few random disconnected bits of reservation land, and an assortment of (non-tribal) private properties, making anyplace other then our listed access largely off-limits.

This site lies right at the Reservation boundary resulting in a run about 3.84 miles.

This landing lies about 200 yards southeast (downstream) of a small tributary creek which is within the Reservation lands.

Parking space is limited here, so please leave as few vehicles as possible and pull off the pavement as much as you can.

USGS gauge (which is listed as having 114 square mile drainage, even though USGS StreamStats software calculates drainage at our listed put-in as 117 square miles)

A split in the river signals First Island. The usual line is to the right of the island, where the river enters some light rapids, then turns to the left and drops about 4' down a moderately steep flume, leading to some easy rapids in the run-out.

The left channel also begins with light rapids but the final drop of 4'-5' is a boulder jumble which should be scouted before running. The usual line here is a boof off a rock right-of-center. This channel is prone to catching deadwood, so a strainer may be present here.

There are several channels here, but the smaller center ones are almost always log choked. At lower flows, turn hard to the right above the island with the cabin to enter the furthest-right channel. This quickly turns hard to the left and drops down a fun slide of perhaps 8' ending in a great play spot for surfing or blasting (somewhat flow dependent).

The far left channel (actually straight ahead as you come downriver) passes under a foot-bridge and drops down a wide slide, also of about 8'. Because of the width of this channel, this will be scrapy at lower flows. (The most water is likely found on the right side of this slide.) If you run this left channel, be sure to paddle up the right channel from below to enjoy the playspot there.

When you see a silo straight ahead, and the river then takes a 90-degree turn to the right, you have arrived at Farm Dam. The dam is no longer here but some remnants flank river-left at the top of the drop. This is a fairly straight forward boulder bed drop with several surf waves, the nicest being on the right at the top. There is a hole about 20 yards into the drop which can get aggressive at higher flows, but this is usually not a problem if you have reasonable downriver momentum and are paddling assertively.

This begins with easy bobbling rapids leading into a turn. Beyond the turn, the water picks up speed considerably in a fast, wavy chute, finisheing with a broken ledge of about 3' (surprise!). Generally you want to run the ledge either far-right or far-left with angle back towards center. Be aware that the large eddy on the right at the bottom is squirrely and feeds back upstream with some force!

Shortly after Surprise, there is an easy lead-in to a constriction that turns hard right, then back left in quick sequence. Expect a hole on the outside of the first bend up against the rock and watch for trees here as they tend to collect between the turns. As with all the drops on this reach, if you do not have the skills or confidence to boat scout this from eddy to eddy, and cannot see clear to the bottom, get out and take a look.

As you finish this final rapids, you are very nearly in the backwaters of Gresham Pond 147 (AKA Upper Red Lake), which means most of the final mile (+/-) of this run will be slow going (little-to-no current).

Parking is in a triangle of land where Morgan Road connects to CTH.A (right at a big curve).

While boating, you will paddle under Morgan Road and a bit beyond to where the river swings close to the road and takes you much nearer your vehicle(s) the parking triangle.