Penobscot, W. Branch, ME Ripogenus Gorge to Debsconeag Class III-V 17 Miles Avg Gradient 22 fpm Max Gradient 80 fpm Rip Gorge Rip Gorge Photo of Mark Lacroix by Sharon Lacroix River Description After a long drive by logging roads dodging Moose, put-in at McKay station. There is usually dependable flow here all Summer. The section from the dam to Prays big eddy (about 2 miles) is considered a class V run. Just below the put-in is Exterminator hole. At normal summer levels punch the hole on the left. Below exterminator is Staircase rapid. Shallow class IV with a nice wave train at the end. Just downstream you will notice the main flow of the river goes to the left around a shear rock wall go to the left for Big Heater rapid. To the right a narrow channel leads to a nice little drop (Little Heater). Just below the heaters on river right is Troublemaker hole, a nice powerfull playhole. Pull out on river left just above a bridge. Downstream lies one of the most difficult rapids in all New England. The Cribworks should be scouted from "Vulture rock" which lies on river left where the river turns left. The move should be obvious to any veteran boater. Drop through the Turkey Shot on river left then move toward river right through Final Chute. Avoid going river left after Turkey shot, the river runs through a boulder sieve that could trap a boat or swimmer. Below Prays Big Eddy the river alternates between long stretches of flatwater and sudden large drops. Some of the rapids in this section are "Big Amberjackwockamas" (Big A), Neswadnehunk (Soudyhunk)falls, and Abol. The West Branch of the Penobscott has been compared to the Upper Gauley and many New England boaters will come here for a warm up before venturing to West Virginia. Camping Camping can be found at "Pray's Big Eddy" located just below the Cribworks. Phone number 207-882.7323. There are other individual campsites scattered about the area maintained by the paper companies. Inquire at the gatehouse about them. Directions To Put in From Portsmouth NH take Interstate 95 through Maine approximately 240 miles. Take exit 56 (Millinocket/Medway) Maine route 157/11 Take a left (west) on 157/11 towards Millinocket. On the other end of Main street in Millinocket look for signs for the Golden road, Baxter State park, take this road. Note: The road changes to a good dirt logging road about 10 miles in. Be carefull of Moose and fully loaded logging trucks. Approximately 18 miles bypassing the entrance to Baxter state park you will come up to a gate. This is paper company land, in 1999, the toll was $4 for Maine residents and $7 for out-of-staters. Note: The owners (Bowater/International paper/Scott paper) will not allow you to enter their lands with a Mountain Bike. If you do have one you will be required to lock it at the gate until your return. Approximately 11 miles to McKay station, look for a small sign. To Take out Retrace your route back to just before the bridge over the river and take a right over a smaller, rougher dirt road. Approximately 1.5 miles to the base of Pockwockamus Falls. Altenative Take out Some paddlers are only interested in running the Rip Gorge through Cribworks section. For those people take out just downstream from Chewonki's Big Eddy Camps (formerly Pray's Big Eddy). The message below was forwarded by Gary Bamberger. Marc and I had a fun run @ Rippogenus Gorge/Cribworks Saturday and were in the process of loading up the car when the manager/owner of Chewonki's Big Eddy Camps (formerly Pray's Big Eddy) came up to us and asked that we not take out there anymore. We were on the shoulder of the "Golden Road" loading up but we did walk across their land from the beach to the road. He was pleasant enough and explained that the state of Maine had built a new take-out just downstream from the traditional one and asked that we use that one. After loading up we went to check it out and it is a nice parking area abutting the Chewonki campground just downstream about 150 yards. It's about 1/3 the size of the Magic Falls take-out on the Dead River and has a permanent out-house and plenty of overhanging shade trees for dogs left in cars (as there isn't much shade at the McKay Station put-in). There is a sign (brown like those used in Baxter) that says "Big Eddy" on the right side of the Golden Road. The parking area is not easy to see from the river but neither is Magic Falls on the Dead. It must have been "family day" on the Penobscot Saturday because Marc and I only ran into 1 other group of paddlers all day (Mike, his daughter Anna and Kim) although there were a lot of fishermen on the right shoreline. I told the Chewonki man that I would post this information on several message boards to help get the word out and alleviate this trespassing issue. gary StreamTeam Status: verified Last Updated: 2004-06-21 14:03:32

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Gauge Description:

Releases through much of the summer. Call Great Northern at 207-723-5131 or 207-723-2328.

River Flow information
Low: 1800 cfs	Medium: 2400 cfs	High: 3000 cfs
Phone Line: (207)723-4341 Extension 163

Flow Info
For current flow information go to the Great Lakes Hydro America website and look under McKay Station.

Release information May 2003

First a little background information. The West Branch of the Penobscot and several other headwater rivers of interest to boaters are all controlled by dams that are (or used to be) owned by the Paper Mills in Millinocket. These paper mills used the power generated from these dams for paper production. These mills closed last year because of financial difficulties. As a result releases at this time are not as certain as they used to be. The following message was posted by Gary Bamburger on May 21st, 2003.
Good News/Bad News on the Penobscot River...First the bad news- Current levels have gone even lower to the following: Canada Falls=71CFS, Seboomook=413CFS and McKay Station(Ripogenus)=800CFS. The good news (somewhat) is that today I called up to the New England Outdoor Center in Millinocket and spoke with "Sandy". She said with the closures of the mills in Millinocket and E. Millinocket the river managers are currently "holding back water" hoping the new owners of the mills will get them open soon. The East Millinocket mill is scheduled to open this summer but the Millinocket mill may not. The river manager states that there will be some water released this weekend (and next weekend) @ McKay Station on Saturday and Sunday 8AM-2PM @ 1600CFS. He anticipates these low levels are a May thing only and levels should increase to more normal numbers as the summer season progresses...The low levels do not indicate low water levels in the west branch drainage, just a conservation of water since it is not currently needed for power.

News

Guidebooks

Rapid Summary

Mile	Rapid Name	Class	Features (Legend)
0.0	Exterminator	5.0
0.2	Staircase	5.0
0.8	The Heaters	III+
1.2	Troublemaker Hole	III+
1.8	Cribworks	5.1
4.5	Big Ambejackwockamus falls (Big A)	IV+
5.0	Horse Race	III
7.5	Neswadnehunk Falls (Soudyhunk)	IV+
9.5	Abol	IV+
10.5	Pockwockamus Falls (Big Pock)	IV+

Rapid Descriptions