Nashua
C-Hole Park & Play
| Difficulty | II-III |
| Length | 0 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Nashua River at East Pepperell, Ma |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 78 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 1, 2018 |
Dan Burke, 2007 Freestyle C-1 Champion, shared:
The C-hole is in from 1400cfs - 3000cfs. This is a great spot for any hole move; however, it is not advised to invert when it is below 1500cfs--it gets a bit boney. But when it is around 2000cfs it is pristine, all moves are doable with a great eddy behind the feature. This is a great unknown spot.
(Editor's note: until now!)
Many people drive by and don't think twice about this spot.
At 2500cfs and up, the WooWoo waves come in. This is a 2-wave feature. The first wave is directly beneath the bridge and is a catch-on-the-fly wave with no eddy but is worth the hike. Spins, blunts, loops, and cartwheels are all possible, with definite potential for some trophy moves. After you flush out of this wave, the second wave is about 50 ft downstream on boater's right. This is fast wave that is great to carve and for low-angle moves. Once you flush out of this, there is a small eddy on boater's right you can catch, but if you miss the eddy then you end up in C-hole. This spot is fun, with 2 catch-on-the-fly waves and then C-Hole.
Also, if by some chance there are heavy rains and this river gets up above 6000 cfs. C-hole turns in to a monster wave that is comparable to Buseater.
There is no eddy at that flow, but hiking is easy.
There are no rapids above this feature or below.
From Dave Su:
June 13, 2013, 8pm, Nashua River, C-Wave Rapid @ ~2850cfs = 5.9', looking downstream from Runnell's Bridge/facing northwest. Park on river L on first R dirt rd. off Depot Rd. at [42.712678, -71.549355]. From shore access the eddy formed by the bridge piling, then the closest two holes in the picture are successively achieved on-the-fly but are very good for spinning and controlled looping at this level - deep and steady! Part of a world-class wave is seen further down on the R side of the drop, though most of it is unseen because it extends under the trees and shadows. Unfor
...Jul 14, 2021
7/13/2021 - C-Hole and Nashua River was running at about 2350 and it was worth the hour ride from Boston. Myself, Jay Michaud and Katelyn Ming ran this section and played around in the many eddies and on the very dynamic surf hole/wave. We put-in on the opposite side of the road/bridge from the parking lot, and took-out on river left after C-Hole.
Thoughts: The Woo Woo waves above the hole were good, but maybe just not enough water to make them worth the re-hike. Especially considering that the hole/wave itself was firing. The feature involved a number of different eddy attains to reach at this level, but it was consistently worth it. However, it took about 30 minutes of practice to really successfully start surfing with control on the feature (very dynamic).
In getting on the wave/hole, this was at first a struggle... we tried side-surfing a very shallow and steep hole with a surfer's left angle on the surfer's right side of the feature, but kept getting flushed off before we could correct our surfing angle to a front surf. What Jay Michaud found out was that you could really quite easily float on the boil on surfer's right behind the feature, and you would kind of fall forward off the boil and into a front surf on the feature. Once you manage that a few times, it became easier and easier and you could start working on your moves.
At 2350, things were quite shallow on surfer's right as mentioned above; close to the more meaty/hole-y side of the feature. The river was not shallow in the middle, or on surfer's left, and Jay Michaud put down a loop without hitting the bottom.
Great spot, and would return for more fun at this level.
Jun 19, 2013
will add photo when able, until then...
A ton of fun...
June 13, 2013, 8pm, Nashua River, C-Wave Rapid @ ~2850cfs = 5.9', looking downstream from Runnell's Bridge/facing northwest. Park on river L on first R dirt rd. off Depot Rd. at [42.712678, -71.549355]. From shore access the eddy formed by the bridge piling, then the closest two holes in the picture are successively achieved on-the-fly but are very good for spinning and controlled looping at this level - deep and steady! Part of a world-class wave is seen further down on the R side of the drop, though most of it is unseen because it extends under the trees and shadows. Unfortunately it, too, is on-the-fly at this level, but totally worth the effort. The second wave behind it is visible and is a fun ride. The last ledge is the C-Wave on the far R and top of the picture; a bit of a challenge to get to at this level but worthy. The L edge of the ledge is easier play, with excellent eddy service, and a paddler in the shot shows the scale. NOTE: there is a new NO TRESPASSING area on the river L property below the ledge, which cuts off easy portaging back to the parking, forcing an effortful ferry from the ledge to stay upstream and legit. GoogleMaps marks the R bank below the bridge as 'Runnell's Bridge Land' which appears to be an easy and legitimate access back to the bridge and to re-run the world-class wave. Enjoy! d.