Youghiogheny, Maryland, US

3. Upper (Sang Run Road to Friendsville)

National Boof

National Boof
Photo of Ratt Boy (KHCC) by Boris Glick taken 06/05/04 @ 2.3'

Gauge Information

River Description

AW continues to manage the Sang Run put-in for the MD-DNR; your donations at the put-in are vital to our continued access successes on the Upper Yough (see below).

Predictable summer releases make this one of the main playgrounds for Eastern Class-IV and Class-V boaters. The rapids are continuous, technical, beautiful, and intoxicating. The intense crowding brought on by rafters and kayakers during a Saturday release only serves to increase the challenge, and add to the aura connected with this gem of a river.
The putin is at Sang Run (see map), at a public MD State access (parking fee) field. Don't be undressing in public or leaving your dog at the parking area, or you could pay a legal cost. Worse, you could be angering the neighbors--and history shows that we need bad publicity like we need a hole in the bottom of our boats.

Upper Yough Donations

American Whitewater signed an agreement in June 2001 with the state of Maryland to manage the Sang Run access on the Upper Yough. We are currently looking for sponsors to maintain this site: to keep the job johnny pumped out and the grass mowed. But until then, we need your donations to maintain it. Put an amount that you think is fair for your level of use into the brown fee box at the parking lot. If we don't cover our expenses it goes back to the state, and they will be forced to use more coercive methods for getting payment. (Thanks to Charlie Walbridge for providing this information...and for everything else he does for rivers!)

The rapid descriptions given below are for the typical summer release level of 1.9-2.1' (on the Sang Run gauge; Sang Run = Friendsville - 1.25). Some lines will vary at other levels. The reader is of course cautioned that this description is no substitute for judgment, knowing who's leading you down, and etc. (Read the disclaimer!)

The trip begins with about two miles of flattish water. If you begin at the start of the release, you're liable to "outrun the bubble," i.e., to get ahead of the water. It's fun to head down and wait at Wait Rock. When Wait Rock is getting covered by water, it's a good idea to put your uneaten cookies back into the drybag and get into your boat while you can. After a short pool is Gap Falls. (See the rapids descriptions, below, for more.)

After all the rapids, it's nothing but three miles of Class-I-II drudgery. Take out on river left, after the bridge in town, onto Mountain Surf's property. Please follow the rules: no public consumption of beer, use the changing rooms behind Mountain Surf, no raucous music--please respect the local residents, and they'll respect you.
(Thanks to John Kobak for many helpful comments and suggestions re. the rapid descriptions.)

Directions: To takeout: from I-68, take the Friendsville Exit (the westernmost exit in MD). If you're coming from the West, bear Left at the fork on the off-ramp, and take a left at the stop sign. Cross under the bridge and take your first right. (If coming from the East, take a right at the end of the off-ramp.) This gets you onto Maple Street. Drive a few hundred feet and park before the bridge, which is right next to Mountain Surf, the takeout point.

To putin: Head back out of town back toward I-68. Take a left onto Rte. 42. Continue on 42 about 4-5 miles and take a right onto Bishoff Rd. Head about 2 miles on Bishoff, and at the four-way intersection, head right onto Sang Run Rd. The putin is a small grassy and gravelly lot on the left. (If you get to the bridge, you've gone too far.) Park and remember to put a couple bills into the till for your good friends at American Whitewater!
Another nice online guide to this section can be found at Gorp.

Other related or nearby streams:
Lower Yough (Class III)
Bear Creek (Class IV)
Top Yough (Class IV-V)
Little Sandy (Class III-IV)
Upper Big Sandy (Class III-IV)
Lower Big Sandy (Class IV-V)
Middle Yough (Class II)

Lat/Longitude coords verified by GPS.