The Shohola is an odd river. It begins with a runnable (with multiple lines) 70ft waterfall/cascade. Then goes through a box canyon with class III to IV water for most of it's 1/2 mile length. Then, after another 1/2 mile or so of good whitewater, it goes through a very flat period where flatwater paddling is interspersed with a ledge occasionally. Finally, it finishes with some good slides and another box canyon with a good drop as it's entrance. The scenery is beautiful at times and nice the rest of the time. It's a fun creek. It does pick up wood however, so keep your eyes ahead and scout the box canyons from the rim (if possible) before entering. This is easy on the first one (there's a trail along the rim on river right), and not too difficult from river right on the second one. This run can be a longish day, so get on early in the winter, when the days are short.
Most people only run the top box now. It's the most bang for your buck. Just carry up the trail on river right and repeat offend. Hiking out from this run if someone gets hurt can be tedious, look at the map before you get on.
Put-in: Put-in is typically on river right below the dam (to run the falls) or below the falls to run the top box. If you don't want to run the falls, or the top box, you'll want to put-in on river right, downstream of Rt. 6. Park in the small gravel parking lot on the upstream, river right side of Rt. 6. Cross Rt. 6 and follow the path on river right until you see a place where you can get to the water. If you are planning on running the top box (but not the falls) follow the scenic trail along the river right side of the falls, then head down the gully which leads to the base of the falls. Watch out for ice in the winter and early spring.
There is a lot of private land around here so be careful when scouting. Once a group of us was paddling on a rare, warm sunny day in April and we came around a bend to find a man naked on his lawn, sunning himself. He was a little surprised to see 7 of us paddle by.
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There is a new USGS Gauge for this river located on the Shohola itself, 7 miles downstream of the put in for the upper box. It can be found at: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/uv/?site_no=01432495&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00010 170 on this gauge would be my estimate of a minimum level. 400 felt like a fun medium.
6 years ago
by Carin Tinney
The gauge on the Bushkill at Shoemakers gives a good correlation, but the Shohola drains a large swampy area above the lake and will generally stay up longer than The Bushkill. Sometimes for many days longer.
Permits are not required for this reach.
41.4478,-74.9244
41.3572,-74.9244
NA
We have no additional detail on this route. Use the map below to calculate how to arrive to the main town from your zipcode.
Shahola Falls - Left Line
Upper Gorge, Shohola Creek
Left line
Thumbnail of Vertical Line at Shohola Falls
Shohola vertical line
The First "Box Canyon"
Sholola slide
Surf on the Shohola
Put-In at the end of the first gorge
Upper box on Shohola Creek
Shohola Falls
Raingauge Map for Shohola Cr.
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