Stonycreek River

The first of two popular put-ins, the ballfield in Hollsopple adds 1.12 mile of flatwater/warm-up prior to 'Showers.' The other popular Putin is about 1/4 mile down to the PA 601 Foustwell (Seanor) Bridge.

From the ballfields Putin, you'll know 'Showers' is coming up when, just over a mile in, the river makes a broad right hand turn and the railroad tracks are very close on river left. As you navigate through a small rock garden, there is a dry ledge on the right. Eddy out here if you want to scout the rapid. At 'Showers' the river funnels into a fast moving wave train with a V-shaped wave-hole at the bottom. Run the rapid to the left or the right of the central V. There are two smaller holes just downstream and a heavy rock garden below the main rapid that paddlers can pick their way through.

Alternate spot to park and put-in for Stonycreek. You can put in here to avoid Showers, or walk up stream about a quarter mile to put in right above Showers. This will avoid the approximate 1 mile of flatter warm-up that you get when putting in at the Hollsopple Ballfield.

Right where Shade Creek joins up with the Stony, there are a couple of nice surf waves to get warmed up on that you easily access from an eddy on river right, or from the middle of the river. A good place to warm up your surfing skills for the main event downriver in 'Surf Lab.'

AKA 'Road Rapid'. At the end of the pool where Shade Creek enters, the river splits around an island. This is sometimes called 'Split Stream', or 'Road Rapid' due to the access road way on river-left.

The river-right channel around the island is the usual line, and provides a couple small boofs and eddy turns around a short, but technical boulder garden.

The river-left channel around the island can be run as well, but it can be bonier at lower water.

This rapid is packed with play spots. From the beginning of 'Test Tube Hole' (Johnson's Hole/Wave is gone, since the rock that created it moved) down to an overhead railroad bridge, a total of about three-tenths of a mile, there are 10 to 15 nice play spots, depending on the water level. This rapid is 1/4-mile below where Shade Creek enters the Stony on river-right.

Just downstream of a railroad bridge, this rapid begins with a long slide that ends with a nice haystack wave. There's a micro eddy on the right against the shrubs for catching the wave and a larger eddy on the left. Immediately after this comes 'The Locomotive' – a ledge that stretches nearly across the width of the river from river left. At mid- to high-levels, the ledge transforms into a mean hole that can reach the size of a large locomotive. The hole can be avoided easily on river-right (but not too far right--watch out for 'Atticus Rock'), and three to five great surfing waves usually form over the next 100 yards.

This rapid easily can be identified where the river splits into two channels around an island and the river left shore forms a shear wall. The left channel is the main line. Drop in at the top on river left, and follow the water down, avoiding some boulders in the bottom section. The right channel is usually very bony.

Soon after 'The Wall' you will enter a succession of rapids named the 'Three Ugly Sisters'. The second two sisters are practically river-wide holes. The first sister is mainly bogie water. The secondsister is an almost river-wide ledge extending from left to right. The standard line is on the far right where the flow s-bends to the right and misses the hole. You can eddy out behind the big rock on the right. The Third 'Sister' is a near-river-wide hydraulic that's sticky on the left-hand side, with 'The Dragon's Tongue', a tongue to the right of center.

AKA 'Rooster Tail '. The name 'Landslide comes from a Landslide that occurred a number of years ago on the river left bank down to the river. This rapid can be run to the left of a river island through a mid-sized shoot. The shoot runs along the left side of the island and has changed a little at the top due to the landslide on river left. On the other side of the island, the right channel is straightforward, but can be bony at the bottom at low water. Due to the shifting of the current at the bottom of this rapid, the rock that formed the 'Rooster Tail' (an older name for this rapid) is now out of the main current. Because of this, the name of this rapid seems to be shifting towards 'Landslide.'

After a big flat pool the river necks down into a wave-hole named 'Scout' on river-right. If you want to surf, eddy out immediately on the right below the wave-hole. This hole offers outstanding surfing and it's a play-boater’s dream at low to medium levels, but is right in the middle of the line boaters will take moving downstream. Just be sure to scout up river for any traffic before jumping in the hole.

After 'Scout' and the standing waves below 'Scout', the river channels left around a ledge on the right. Below the ledge, is a 'Hydro Rock,' a large rectangular boulder on the left bank. Run to the center right of the channel and in front of the boulder, with the boat pointed at 2:00 n the middle of the river. Depending on levels, there can be a standing wave in the middle of the drop and a nice-size hole at the bottom that can be a little sticky, followed by a large pool after the rapid. These two features can provide some of the best play-boating on the river between 4.75' (1,500 cfs) and 6.00' (3,000 cfs) on the USGS Ferndale Gauge.

Affectionately named, this rapid features one of the steepest drops on the river. Not known for play-boating, 'Beast' can flip paddlers at the top of the rapid and make them thankful they can roll back up – as a swim always ends with bumps and bruises.

After Hydro, stay right of the river island. After bending back to the left, there are two choices at the top of the rapid: left through a slot and over a pour-over, or right through a series of chicane-configured rock gardens with the possibility of a boof off a rock that juts out into the current from river right. At the bottom of the rapid is a medium-sized moving pool and perhaps some playing opportunities.

AKA 'Delta'.   After about a half a mile of boogie water, look for a channel on the far right side.   Some Stony Canyon veterans traditionally run this rapid with their bows pointing upstream and hold that position until they float through the rapid and into the 'Border Dam' pool.

This used to be considered runnable, but the understructure is falling apart, and your boat (and body) risk unfortunate encounters with rotten boards, sharp spikes and large exposed bolts.   Portage river left.

This rapid should be scouted (easily boat scouted on river right) by first-timers and portaged on river-right if the line is not apparent. The unnatural pipeline across the river forms a potentially dangerous hydraulic in the middle which should be avoided. There is a line on river left that can usually be successfully and safely run. Start left (about 10 feet off the left shore) over the drop then make your way to the middle to avoid a nasty rock garden.

A series of mild rock gardens that is run most easily generally river-right.

'Dislocation' Rock is tucked against the right side of the river and has a noticeable undercut feature.   A nasty hole is just above the rock and should be avoided between 3.75 (~1,000 cfs) and 5.5 (~2,500 cfs) feet on the Ferndale Gauge.   There are a series of glassy surfing waves with good eddy access just behind the rock up to 6 feet (~3,000 cfs) on the USGS Ferndale Gauge.

Nice little boulder garden prior to the takeout that has eddies on the right and left of the channel. Most boaters try to hop down through this section, trying to catch as many of the eddies as possible.

Take-out on river right just below the bridge.