U.S. Route to U.S. Route 40Class II-III
5.5 Miles
Avg Gradient 33 fpm
Max Gradient 75 fpm
Gauge Information
Little Gunpowder Falls
U.S. Route to U.S. Route 40 II-III
River DescriptionThis is the delightful, classic Little Gunpowder trip. The first half is an almost continuous rock garden, starting out class I-II and then adding a few class II and II+ bits. After the midway point, in short succession, come a series of class III rapids. The first is a 4-foot ledge, easily scouted on the right and best run in the middle at low levels. It is popular to carry back up and run it again. The next splits around an island, with the left side narrower and shallower. Then comes the Belko Factory Falls, a ragged 6-foot drop which can be scouted from the left and run on the right. The remaining class III or III- rapids, above and below the next bridge, are twisty rock gardens. Class II water then resumes, down to I-95. The final mile and a half has only a pair of class II+ rapids on either side of Philadelphia Road, a half-mile above the take out.The surrounding woodlands are full of deer and quite pretty, except where buildings are close to the creek. You can park at the shopping center alongside the take out. If you continue below there, it is two flat miles to the big Gunpowder Falls, and then another mile to the Gunpowder River inlet. Ed Evangelidi testifies:<br> This creek is quite flashy, so don�t dawdle, or it might come down on you while you are running shuttle. It has more continuous rapids than on the <a href="http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/721/">Big Gunpowder</a> but they are not any harder. Also has a tamer section upstream. <br><br> Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone. StreamTeam Status: unverified
Last Updated: 2005-05-11 21:50:22
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GUNPOWDER FALLS NEAR PARKTON, MD [ MD ] |
Current Conditions
Station Graphs |
| Level Legend: | Running | Below Minimum Recommended Flow | Above Maximum Recommended Flow | Unknown |
| State | River Name/Section | Class | Level | Rel. Level | Updated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD | Gunpowder Falls— 2 - Prettyboy Dam to Falls Road | I-III | 1.99 feet | low | 12/2 10:15 | |
| MD | Gunpowder Falls— 3 - Falls Road to Phoenix | I-II | 110 cfs | med | 12/2 10:15 |
| AW Gauge ID: | 7853 |
| USGS Station: | 01581920 |
| HUC: | 02060003 |
| Latitude: | 44.4925 |
| Longitude: | -121.2972 |
| Class: |
No guide books for this stream. If you know of a book that describes this stream please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. User Comments |
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2007-09-28 10:27:28 (431 days ago)
boater2579 every time the AW river info says the little gun powder is in the green i go down to check it out, it is way to low to run every time. I agree with Tony Del Puppo WAY TO LOW YOU IDIOT Edit
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2007-09-27 10:53:58 (432 days ago)
This river is NOT runnable at 1.93 feet / 84 CF/s. We just went down and tried it thinking it would just be a 'little low'. We were only able to paddle about 200 yards of the first 3 miles. We had to hike along the trails and take out at Jerusalem Road bridge and hitch a ride back to the putgtin to get our vehicle. Locals told us that the river is usually a full foot higher. I would say 2.5 feet would be runnable, with 3 feet preferable. Oh well.... Edit
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2007-08-08 08:02:22 (482 days ago)
Tony Del Puppo
I ran the toughest part of this stretch (Jerusalem Mill to Franklinville Rd.) and I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Evangelidi. At around 130 to 140 cfs on the Winter's Run Gauge, this river was certainly more difficult than the Big Gunpowder at 12" on the local Rt. 1 bridge gauge. Belko Factory Falls is more difficult and dangerous than anything the Gunpowder has to offer; as for the immediate three or four Class threes that come before and after Belko, they are equal to anything the Gunpowder offers. The pictures on this website are misleading; they were taken at low levels; run this river after a good rain and see what I'm talking about. I consider myself a solid Class 3 kayaker. When I ran Big Gunpowder the first time, I only boat scouted the rapids; on the Little Gunpowder, I got out of my boat and scouted each and every major rapid, which wasn't easy because there weren't many eddies to catch.
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No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
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