Great Miami
Dayton Playpark
| Difficulty | II |
| Length | 0.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Great Miami River at Dayton Oh |
| Flow Rate as of 41 minutes | 1020 cfsrunnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 10, 2023 |
The feature is across from the Dayton Art Institute. The best place to park is off of Monument Ave. under the I-75 overpass (use coordinates N39.762816, W84.199844).
The river left feature has generally less play opportunities, but provides opportunities to practice basic maneuvers (ferrying, eddy turns, combat rolls, etc).
The river right feature forms a large wave train that runs between 23.5-26.5 ft on the gauge. The best level for play seems to be 26 ft/2500 cfs.
At higher flows (above 27ft/4200 cfs), both eddies feed strongly up toward the drop, and whirlpools form on the eddylines making rolling a bit challenging.
Upstream at Riverscape Metropark a second feature has been constructed. It forms a bigger hole (like a bigger version of the Mad River Run).
The following video at a reported level of 24.5' (about 1010 cfs) has been cued-up to near its midpoint to show some of the better rides. (If you wish to devote 20+minutes to see it all, you can recue it to the beginning.): Kayaking Downtown Dayton, 24.5ft 08/15/2016
Nov 2, 2017
Ran both drops on 11/2/17 at 25.6 feet. The Riverscape drop was starting to get fun. The right side was a fairly steep green wave. Great for front surfing and beginner play. The left side was starting to develop a foam pile, but wasn't retentive enough for any big moves. Great for enders and stern squirts. Overall, pretty friendly.
The Monument Ave. drop was huge and very retentive. It generally flushed if you roll, but held you long enough to roll back up on the wave. Great for more advanced play. The eddy on the right was full of trash and some rather largeish logs that were getting swirled around. Way more than usual and large enough that it might hurt to run into one while upside down. I tried to clean up as much as I could, but some of it was difficult to get to. Down stream the 'whirlpools' were out in full force. Fun to mess around it, but hard to roll up in.
Feb 8, 2017
The feature across from the Dayton Art Institute is open. The best place to park is off of Monument Ave. under the I-75 overpass (N39.762816, W84.199844). The river left feature doesn't look like it has any play opportunities, but it is a good place for beginners to practice ferrying and eddy turns. The river right feature forms a large wave train that runs between 23.5-26.5 ft on the gage. The best level for play seems to be 26ft. At higher flows (27ft+), 'whirlpools' form on the eddyline that make rolling a challenge. Both eddies feed very strongly into the drop above 27ft.
A second feature is being constructed upstream, at Riverscape Metropark. It still has metal, rocks, and construction equipment in the water. The feature is open though. I haven't had the chance to run it, but it looks to form a large hole, kind of like a bigger version of the Mad River Run.
Heres the guage for this section. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site\_no=03270500
Feb 11, 2015
The river feature itself is a friendly play wave and designed for surfing in ideal conditions between 300cfs -700cfs. Once the water reaches above 900cfs both eddies feeds strongly back into the river left drop.
