Beaver, New York, US

2. Eagle Section

Eagle Falls

Eagle Falls
Photo of Ratt Boy by Matt Muir (KHCC) taken 09/04/99

River Description

Very steep and technical, with one narrow waterfall after another.

The toughest of the three Beaver sections, this short section has big, narrow slides. It's way photogenic. Releases on weekends in September.

Hazard Warning at Eagle Putin!

FLOW paddler Steve Benedict found the following:
"I had to stop at Eagle to see what punctured my boat last week.
"FYI at the base of the entry slide (the slide, next to the dam, which most paddlers use to put in) is an eddy...as you peel out of the eddy, the pourover in the center of the stream is formed by two pieces of angle-iron and the planks they hold in a sort of dam. They stick up maybe a foot above the planks, are not visible at runnable flows, and can do a number on your boat...and possibly other body parts. On the other hand they are easily missed by staying to the right."
Click here to see photos of the hazard.

Also see the Taylorville Section (Class III), which also runs on weekends in September, the Moshier Section (Class IV-V), which releases on one day of Labor Day weekend, and the Raquette River, Stone Valley Section, which shares some of the Beaver release weekends--as well as having some Summer releases of its own.

Posted by Chris Koll:
The releases are a product of negotiations by American Whitewater that resulted in a series of 11 whitewater releases during a typical year spread over three challenging sections of Beaver River whitewater. The sections are dry except for release days when Orion Power allows water to spill back into the natural river bed creating whitewater runs ranging from class 3 to class 5.
The runs are typically short--varying in length from one to four miles--and on most release days water is scheduled on two different parts of the river. Boaters can easily paddle one section of the Beaver in the morning and then catch a second section in the afternoon.
The whitewater sections include the Taylorville run, a 1.5-mile stretch that features six class 3-4 drops. While some of the drops appear intimidating--particularly a steep 30-foot slide--the rapids are fairly straightforward and are appropriate for strong intermediate paddlers looking for an introduction to steep creeking.
The Moshier section is the jewel of the river, a 4-mile run that includes two runnable waterfalls, a number of easy class-3 rapids, and concludes with a long, technical class-5 rapid composed of four discernible drops. The section is appropriate for experts or strong intermediates with judicious scouting and/or portaging.
The Eagle section is short and demanding. Only a mile in length, the run starts off with four class-5 drops where the river drops the equivalent of 475 fpm. Eagle is a demanding expert run.
The Beaver River originates from Stillwater Reservoir in the western section of the Adirondack Park northeast of the village of Lowville. The area is undeveloped and camping is available throughout the area.

Questions regarding the Beaver can be directed to Chris Koll by email or by calling (315) 652-8397.