Merrimack River

The Merrimack through Lowell is essentially just one big rapid. Is the scenery good? Not really. Hows the water quality? Meh. Is it easy to access currently? No. Can you get there for an after work paddle from Boston or the Metrowest region? Yes. A big draw to the Pawtucket Falls section of the Merrimack is its proximity to the Boston region.

The rapid can be divided into four areas: top and bottom, and left and right. The left side of the river is the main event of the run, with most of the fun. The first drop is over a weir / low head and depending on level is worth skipping and putting in below of. After this there is one drop to bring you to the University Ave bridge. Depending on the levels there is a good surfing wave below the bridge. From the bridge down there is a wave train leading into a bigger wave. This leads to the biggest and final drop on the left next tot a small island.

The top right side has some wave and holes leading to the main part of the top right, which is a big series of waves. There's some good on the fly surfing here if you can catch it. If the level is good you can attain up the middle to the right side and run loops of the top right rapid. After this there's a bunch of flat until after the bridge. Once you get to the end of the flat on the right, there are a bunch of different channels amongst the rocks leading back to the bottom left.