Austin Stream,
|
|
South Branch to Bingham (Austin Falls)
| Usual Difficulty |
III-V(V+) (may vary with level) |
| Length |
0.2 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient |
390 fpm |
River Description
Source: Greg and Sue Hanlon's
Steep Creeks of New
England, which has more info on this run.
Directions: Drive North on Rte. 201. At the edge of town, bang a right onto Rte. 16 just
before crossing Austin Stream. Continue upstream along the river-left bank about 0.8 miles and
hang a left onto a dirt road that rises away from the river. Follow this dirt road 5.8 miles to
Austin Falls. Park in the pull-off on the left. For this 0.2-mile stretch, ain't no shuttle
necessary.
StreamTeam Status: Verified
Last Updated: 2001-08-29 06:15:49
No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
User Comments
obstructed good to go. Edit
at lower flows when only the "gorge" section goes (see picture for an idea). At higher levels, the
strainers could pose a big problem. Definitely set safety. Also, it looks like the vertical
waterfall downstream of the strainers goes at these levels. The run looks like it maintains an
average 100 fpm of gradient all the way down to Bingham. I would suspect it would make for a pretty
good Class IV-V run at appropriate levels, although we couldn't motivate for a late afternoon start
after running the E. Piscataquis in the AM the one time I was there at higher flows. Even a very
small amount of rain will make the "gorge" section worth doing if you are in the area. Look for
flows on the Carrabassett to be above 2000 and on the Piscataquis to be above 600 before attempting
the entire run.
drop after the crux. I think the strainer will be there for a long time due to the size of the
tree.