Poesten Kill
0. Barberville Falls to Route 351
| Difficulty | III-V+ |
| Length | 0.1 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Hoosic River Near Eagle Bridge Ny |
| Flow Rate as of 38 minutes | 3.94 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 21, 2016 |
River Description
Bob Malinowski shared:
This is a fun class 3-4 creek section from the base of Barberville Falls to Route 351. Barberville Falls is class VI and would likely cause serious injury or fatality if run, so it's important to stress walking the trail from Blue Factory Road to the base of the Falls. I ran this last week (May, 2012) and there is some wood in it. Description below, but I intend to cut out 2 (#1 and #3) of the hazards tomorrow night. Wood hazard #2 is a big project and should be able to be run on river left when the water is higher. Wood Report:
The first (#1) is around the first left turn near the top of the run. Scrubby, bushy trees, river wide. The second (#2) portage is below the multi-stage ledge drop. Lots of trees on river right where the water is deepest. You may be able to skirt this mess on river left at higher water, so scout if you're unsure. We may be able to cut these half way across and widen the left line. Removing all of them would be a project since it's all land slide material on river right.
The third (#3) is a lone pine about 12' in diameter near the bottom of the run. It's in one of the new man-made channels built to fix the Irene destruction. It's passable on extreme river right and should be less of a problem at higher levels. The channel is a long, fast, straight shot, and has no eddies before the tree. If the river is high, you're pretty much committed to skirt the tree on the right when you enter the channel. We should be able to get this one out, but it's the only one with no public access from land...we'd have to get it by boat.
Capital Region Area Reaches
...River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportIgnore my comment from April 3rd regarding putin access. The Rensselaer Plateau Alliance has built a parking lot and trail down to the base of Barberville falls.
However, please be respectful of the land and property owners if you're taking out at the Rt.351 bridge. All of the land bordering the bridge is private.
On put in access: If you're unloading on Blue Factory Road (above the falls), be respectful of land owners who are upset the land is being turned back over to the town who will have to police the area for 'rowdy visitors' (partying, disorderly conduct, etc.). Do not park anywhere near the bridge at Blue Factory Road. You will get towed, or a boot placed on your car. Do not park in the driveway of the goat farm. This gentleman is kind to paddlers and a pleasure to talk to, but understandably doesn't want his driveway blocked to emergency vehicles. Shuttle drivers should park across from the cemetery in the obvious pull off area on Plank Road (it's a 3 minute walk). If paddlers lose access to the put-in and trail to the bottom of the falls, we essentially lose the whole run, because it's the only access point. Please be respectful.
Take out: Poestenkill Town Hall. During business hours, park in the back and keep changing nudity on the down-low.
Spring 2019 update: The wood report above from 2016 is no longer valid. The run from Barberville Falls to Rt 351 is mostly clear of wood. There is one river right channel closer to the end of the run (small island) that contains a river wide tree in it. When in doubt, take the left channel, but know that this left channel has a history of collecting wood as well.
We had a beautiful 'medium' level at 5.6-5.7 on the Hoosic River/Eagle Bridge gauge. The run is fluid and continuous in sections at this level with few eddies. Paddlers should have confident Class 3-4 creeking abilities. Enjoy this gem of a run!
I ran this late January 2014 at the low end of the gauge. This is an awesome continuous class III run with a few class IV drops spread throughout. All the bigger drops are scoutable and fairly straight forward. There was a strainer towards the end where the river splits around a small island, both paths were blocked so watch out. The whole run with portaging the strainer only took about 50mins but it is nothing but whitewater the whole time.
Hello, I was driving and found this river, I dont know what stretch this was but IT IS RUNNABLE. There is 4 major drops, all waterfall/slides unrunnalbe at lower levals, which is how they where when i saw them, BUT at higher water they seem to be good. There is one man made waterfall, its a 35 foot steep slide to a 8 foot auto boof waterfall. This is runnable at low levels. That was the only one I ran, this was on 4/27/08. anyone want to paddle this run, chrismo1080@verizon.net