Rondout Creek

Levels and Description provided by John Ditmars

Rondout Creek, High Falls to Rosendale

This is a pretty fun class 2-4 (5) river run that is accessible to both beginners and experts. The

level coincides with difficulty, like most rivers, but all of the rapids have a nice recovery zone

which makes it a great learning river. There are also numerous play spots on the river that

come in at various levels. Intermediates and experts would probably prefer play boats on this

run to ride the holes and waves the Rondout has to offer.

There are two put ins. Paddlers may choose to run Little Falls, which is a roughly 12 foot falls

that can have a beefy kickback. It’s been run as low as 10 feet and as high as 13 feet, as far as

the locals know. The best line is along the left side, just be sure to not pencil in because there is

a rock shelf at the bottom, instead, boof right off the peak. That shelf is along the whole drop,

more or less. Word on the street is there’s a fun play hole above Little Falls called Johnny-On-

The-Spot that comes in at certain levels. The other option is to put in below Little Falls.

The first rapid below Little Falls is called Spin Cycle. Spin Cycle itself is actually the very strong

eddy line with ripping whirlpools at the bottom. What makes running this rapid difficult for

beginners is the fact that if you swim, you’re gonna get banged up a bit, and will end up at the

bottom in the boil and whirlies. It’s not a particularly hard rapid, a class 3 really...but you want

to be on top of your line.

The second rapid has no name but there’s a fun blasting hole called Blast Hole on the river right

side. Above 12 feet it can be a bit sticky.

Next thing that comes up is a little low head dam. Some locals call the rapid Outta Nowhere

(class 2+/3). It can be surfed on river left at moderate to flows, and at high flows the entire can

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