Gauge Description:

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.
 

Linked Reaches

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Station Description

Contoocook River map

Contoocook River map

Photo by MARK L

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.

S-Turn map

S-Turn map

Photo by Mark L

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.

Freight Train map

Freight Train map

Photo by Mark L

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.