Cuyahoga, OH

Rookie Drop

Rookie Drop
Photo of Brent Laubaugh by Matt Muir (KHCC) taken 3-9-02 @ 475 cfs

Gauge Information

River Description

This stretch can be run up to 800 cfs, but you'd better be walking the dam. Much above 800, there's no sensible putin. Luckily for the prospective paddler, the Lower Gorge (Cuyahoga, Ohio Edison Dam to Peck Road) starts to become bigtime fun at that level.

Ol' Stuey got hisself famous (American Whitewater, 11-12/96--see the article by clicking on "Kayaker Soggy but Safe" along the right-hand edge of this window) by flipping and swimming at the dam. The videotape made the evening news. It's fun to razz ol' Stuey, don't git me wrong, but please be careful when accessing this stretch-o-wattah, because mistakes are very visible.

Photo: this is the kind of insult that the Cuyahoga has had to contend with over the decades. It keeps getting better, but we're a long way from a clean river. Thanks to Harold Marsh of Friends of the Crooked River for this shot.

This stretch of river consists mainly of three waterfalls: the Dam, which is kinda ugly; Rookie Drop, a harmless 8-foot boof; and the Staircase, a 15-foot narrow slide into a hole right above a narrowing of the river. The bottom drops out as you go over the lip, and the water accelerates you down. It's kind of a hoot.
Just below the Staircase is Ankle Buster, an ender spot which has a rock inconveniently placed. Still, it's one of the few spots in NE Ohoho that'll turn you vert, even in old-school boats...so, you gotta take what you can get.

Other related nearby streams:
Lower Cuyahoga (Class I-II)
Lower Gorge (Class III)
Tinker's Creek (Class IV)

Conservation Organization: check out the Friends of the Crooked River, who've been working on cleaning up the Cuyahoga and educating the public for 14 years.