Sacandaga, E. Branch

2. Moose Mountain to Route 30(Griffin Gorge)

Reach banner
DifficultyIII+(V)
Length8.2 mi
Avg Gradientn/a
GaugeSacandaga River Near Hope Ny
Flow Rate as of 53 minutes
2.85 ftbelow recommended
Reach Info Last UpdatedFebruary 15, 2026

River Description

Route 8 parallels this section, so there are numerous putin/takeout options at the various pull-outs.

Above Griffin Gorge the run is fairly mellow with a few short class-III sections. Griffin Gorge is located about 3 miles upstream of the East Branch/Middle Branch confluence. Route 8 veers away from the river and a small dirt road travels a short distance down to a bridge across the river. Upstream of the bridge is a small ledge which is easiest on the far right, with harder (class IV) lines on the left. After the bridge, look for two eddies on the right above the main drop of Griffin Gorge. These are easy to make at low water, but were definately interesting to catch around 14000 cfs. The main drop features a huge hole which may be boofable/punchable at lower flows, but take a look for yourself. Below the main drop, the runout to the gorge is fun at low flows, but features some huge holes at high water. After the gorge, there's a short reprieve before the last rapid on the run.

The last 3 miles fall around 100 fpm and are continuous bouldery class-III at low water or a huge class-IV freight train at high water (At 14000 cfs it took us 10 minutes to run the final 3 miles).  This is a classic Adirondack run and can easily be lapped multiple times.

South-Eastern Adirondack Area Reaches

Batten Kill Beecher Creek County Line Brook

Dunning Creek East Stony CreekElbow Creek

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River Features

Put In

Distance: 0 mi

Take Out

Distance: 7 mi
Take Out

AS
Andy Stuart

Jul 7, 2014


Ran this when the gauge at Hope was 9700 and the Hudson was at 8.5', putting in just below Griffin Gorge. What a ride! It was 3 miles of nearly non-stop huge waves with a few holes thrown in for good measure, but easily boat scouted and avoidable. There are a couple of huge holes just below Griffin Gorge that are tougher to avoid and need to be punched or surfed out of. Or if you're like me, they require a few combat rolls due to poor sidesurfing technique.

AB
Alex Barham

Feb 6, 2013


Photo credit: Harry Berking and Rob Grifiths

AB
Alex Barham

Feb 6, 2013


Photo credit: Harry Berking and Rob Griffiths