Mill Brook (Jericho)
Jericho
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 141 fpm |
| Gauge | Allen Brook at Vt 2a, Near Essex Junction, Vt |
| Flow Rate as of 4634 days | 3 cfsstale data |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 18, 2018 |
Mill Brook is Burlington's backyard creek. Only a twenty minute drive from downtown gives you access to a beautiful wooded valley with several ledges, falls and slides, none being harder than class IV. Unfortunately it takes a relative deluge for there to be enough water to truly enjoy this creek. It can be run at medium and lower, but the bits inbetween the drops become unbearably scratchy, and if you choose to run this at a low level your boat may never forgive you. At high water however this little creek is a true delight. Several laps are the norm as the one and a half miles or so can be run quickly, making it the ideal lunchbreak creek for Chittenden county boaters when the skies open up.
As of the floods of 2011 there are two landslides and trees in the river after the Hydro drop which will likely require walking around. Please be discrete and quick as you are often on private property.
-Scott G
Jul 15, 2009
More than once I've been goaded into running Mill Brook when it was on the very low side of boatable. The big drops are in some ways more exciting at low water, as the pool height is noticably lower making the drops more impressive to see (and run) while the consequences of a screw-up are less onerous. The worst part in low water is the lengthy and quite scratchy class II section below the hydro power site.
Upstream of the bridge should look like this or have more water for an enjoyable run. The in between bits were still scratchy at this level.
have fun trying to get out of the river left eddy if you end up there
up on river right are the Mobbs Valley bike trails. When VT is dry, its fun to rally around the single track and stop here for a swim. access off Fitzsimonds road.
Fun left to right entry move. Great drop, scout river left.
Don't know what its actually called. If you run this straightforward you will piton...Dave is making the move here with a last minute left paddle stroke to turn him sideways and slide over the smooth bedrock ledge. Pretty funny to watch. More lines open up with more water.
Mar 4, 2008
If you look up stream from the take out bridge (117) and you see a bunch of rocks, it's too low. If you see only a few, your good. The best put in is a pull-off not far from the top of tarbox rd. and there is a little trail that you can hike down. If you put in higher than this you will most likely be getting out of your boat 3-4 times to go around logs, and there are no rapids until you reach the gorge anyway. The run starts off with a few good ledge drops and you can run them anywhere, class 3 stuff. Then there are couple small falls, run both on river right, easy class 4. Everything is scoutable but you are in peoples back yards some of the time. All the drops are runnable but the last one can be a boat breaker and it's a good idea to walk around it if the water is really low. The run just gets better with more water and features and lines stay pretty much the same. Great intro to creeking run. Watch out for wood. Don't drive too fast on Tarbox rd, all the land owners I have run into have been ok with us scouting/portaging and we should keep it that way. Have fun.
-Wilbur
