Rockaway

I ran this section from the Bridge rapid to the lake on 10-25-09. I was told by a nice Boonton officer that the run is technically off limits to ALL boaters after my trip. He did not ticket me though so perhaps the legislation is still not in place at this date. As for the take out I opted to stash my boat on river right next to the interstate because I was walking the shuttle. This does have the disadvantage of driving down past the I-80 interchange all the way to Whippany before you can head back north to your boat. I also noticed another police officer who had stopped just looking at the boat trying to figure out what to do (I had locked the boat next to a tree). He was gone by the time I swung back north on the interstate thankfully.

Watch out for a low head dam where the water gauge is, just before you leave Boonton and cross over beneath the interstate bridges. You can scout this rapid before the run by driving onto the southbound interstate ramp and making a small right turn just before committing yourself to heavy traffic. The dam is shallow enough that the hydraulic is not as grabby as it looks, but be sure to know where it is before running the creek as you will need to get a good head of steam to punch it when running.

Perhaps the AWA and other entities can attend a Boonton town meeting and explain to them they should be ENCOURAGING whitewater boaters only to run this stream. The town is not in the best of shape economically and any additional revenue they would be a desired shot in the arm. There is a nice diner and pub in the middle section of town, perhaps someone could renovate one of the older residential buildings into a B&B. The Rockaway River is the closest expert whitewater to the Western Hemisphere's wealthiest city (NYC) so the town is missing out on an economic opportunity here!