Goose Creek
Sycolin Road Bridge to Kephart Bridge Landing (& the Potomac)
| Difficulty | I-II(III) |
| Length | 5.3 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 9 fpm |
| Gauge | Goose Creek Near Leesburg, Va |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 1.92 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | July 27, 2024 |
River Description
Overview: Since 2018, local paddlers put in at Sycolin Road (SR 643) Bridge and do a 5.3 mile run to Kephart Bridge Landing, itself 1 mile upstream of the Potomac.
From Sycolin Road paddle 1.4 miles down the Fairfax Reservoir, portage right around the 20-foot dam and descend three easy Cl. 1+ rapids and rock-gardens for 1.2 miles to the Washington and Old Dominion bike trail bridge and Sycolin Creek put-in. From here it's 1.4 miles past Cookes Mill/Golfcourse Rapid (Cl. II+, III) to Keep Loudoun Beautiful Park (P.I./T.O.) just above Va Rte 7. Another 1.3 miles to Clapham Falls Rapid and the Kephart Bridge Landing take-out.
See Also:
Classic Virginia Rivers, Ed Grove (1992 ed), p. 102.
Virginia Whitewater, Roger Corbett (2000 ed.), p. 45.
Exploring Virginia's Waterways, Ed Gertler (2022 ed.), p. 31.
River Features
Sycolin Creek Put In
THIS PUT IN COMES AFTER SYCOLIN BRIDGE PUT IN, SO LOOK AT THAT FIRST: Put in on Sycolin Creek just off of the equestrian trail on the W&OD trail. Advantages: Avoiding the reservoir paddle and path descending around the dam upstream. Drawbacks: Half-mile walk from parking up on Belmont Hill Road (on river right). Another steep descent into Sycolin Creek just downstream / right of the bike trail. Trail is paved, so roller wheels could help. 1.2 miles to Golfcourse Rapid.
Sycolin Road Put In
THIS IS THE FIRST PUT-IN; SYCOLIN CREEK PUT-IN IS 2.6 MILES DOWNSTREAM: This put-in is on river left downstream from the bridge (SR 643). Park on gravel just off road, drag boats down through grass (go right of fence) to small inlet 50 yards to the backed-up creek. Turn left down the reservoir upon exiting, pass under Dulles/Leesburg toll road (SR 267) – in 1.4 miles land on right 100 yds above the
Fairfax Dam. Carry around and lower boats 20 feet down steep gravel path to the creek below. A length of rope is helpful. 1.2 miles down three mild rock-gardens (some were milldams), pass under high Washington and Old Dominion Bike Trail bridge. Sycolin Creek enters from left right thereafter....
Golf Course Rapids (Cooke's Mill)
A lower class III at 2-2.5' that quickly becomes a strong III at higher levels. Novices should scout from river left by the old locks and mill race of Cooke's Mill. Paddlers of lower skill can sneak this rapid on the left without much trouble and only a few bumps. More skilled paddlers will find the river-right route over three drops into decent sized holes will be far more fun and challenging. The final hole offers excellent play and surfing opportunities.
During covid boaters discovered they could paddle upstream 0.3 miles from Keep Loudoun Beautiful Park, drag/ carry up river left and run the rapid repeatedly. 200 cfs at the Leesburg gauge (2 hours upstream) is a minimum.
Keep Loudon Beautiful Park
This pocket park, off the right of way of the former VA Rte 7, has two P.I./T.O.s. One is a pebble beach 100 yds upstream where Tuscarora Creek enters from river left. From here one paddles up to Golfcourse Rapid. (Said golfcourse is a new housing development.) A mild Cl. II rapid separates this P.I. from the lower P.I. at the park – greatly improved in 2020. KLB Park is at 43055 Golf Club Road, Leesburg.
Old Mill Dam (Elizabeth's Mill)
The old Elizabeth's Mill dam millrace and wheelhouse remains on river right. This dam is easily run either left or right of center. The right of center run offers the best play hole as the center portion of the dam creates an excellent eddy for upstream ferrying.
Rock Garden
Rock Garden: 1.3 miles after VA 7, having passed the mild drop at Elizabeth Mills (picture), the creek bends right to the final drop:
Clapham Falls Rapid.(Cl. II) Easy to read with most water to the left. There is a nice sized hole guaranteed to get you wet at the bottom. The large stone 19th C. Kephart Bridge abutment on the right (see picture) at the end of the rapid signals eponymous Landing just behind it.
Kephart Bridge Landing
Kephart Bridge Landing: Unless you decide to continue down to Algonkian Park or across the Potomac to Edwards Ferry, this is it. Excellent take-out place 100 yards up a wood chip path to right of the creek, with dedicated parking and year-round jiffy-johns. New in the early 2010s. Ideal place to suit up, consolidate boats, and leave extra cars before driving up Belmont Hill Rd (SR 659) to your put-in. It’s at 43942 Riverpoint Drive, Leesburg. The remains of the mile-long lock to Elizabeth's Mill are on river right.
To the Potomac: Another mile separates Kephart Bridge Landing from the Potomac. A minor rapid is drowned out when the Potomac’s Edwards Ferry gauge reads 4.7 feet or above. Unless the Goose is flowing above 200 cfs, less than 4.7 could mean difficulty in reaching the Po. One can cross the river to Edwards Ferry and slip a couple of hundred yards down to admire the Goose Creek Entry Lock on the inactive C&O Canal.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportA good run down Goose Creek today from the Washington and Old Dominion trail down to the take-out a little above the Potomac. Started in Sycolin Creek, which was too low: more walking and hauling packrafts (with bikes) over or around big strainers. Once on Goose Creek, it was a nice run. Cooke's Mill rapid was rolling very nicely, and the Rock Garden rapid at the end was a bit more fun than the last trip (at 2' on the Goose Creek gauge). Rode back to the truck at 659 and the W&OD on our bikes for a nice, relaxing round-trip.
We bike/packrafted from the Washington and Old Dominion trail intersection with Goose Creek down to Riverpoint Drive Trailhead (same as Kephart Bridge Landing in the description), taking it easy over a few hours with the water right around 2' at the gage. Only real challenge was launching from the steep banks up by the W&OD trail. The run was basically as described here with a few fun rapids (Class I and II, maybe III where we ran river right for Cooke's Mill rapids), interspersed by slow but not still flats. Had an easy bike ride back with the available bike paths to get the truck and head out. Recommended!
You can put in at Sycolin Rd - 1.5 miles above the Dam to the Fairfax Reservoir. River left. Portage around dam on the right. Legal, despite minatory signs.
Used repeatedly by local paddlers under CCA auspices. Sorry to be brief, but my former post in Oct 2020 has disappeared. Alf Cooley, 1 Jan 2021
The put-in used since 2018 by local paddlers is just off Sycolin Road (SR 643) at the downstream river-left side of the bridge. This is 2.6 miles upstream from the put-in shown on the AW map. Drag 150 yards down to the tiny creek mouth and paddle 1.4 miles down the reservoir to the 20 ft Fairfax Dam. Carry around the right shoulder and let your boats down (bring rope). A full description of lower Goose Creek is found on the Canoe Cruisers Assn webpage: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/394800/documents/Goose\_Creek\_Text\_R\_Canter\_796000524.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA6MYUE6DNNNCCDT4J&Expires=1602883243&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DGoose\_Creek\_Text\_R\_Canter.pdf&Signature=qybEm%2FOHo1KgcUBt%2BrtveFBQLlk%3D
Please exercise caution in passing the dam. Despite the minatory signs, boaters may descend this navigable waterway (In testimony, a set of 1840s canal locks looks up at you from the bottom of the reservoir.) In another 1.2 miles you arrive at the W&OD RR trail and the Sycolin Creek put-in mentioned in the main article. A pair of excellent intermediate take-outs are at Keep Loudoun Beautiful Park, immediately upstream of VA Rte 7. But Kephart Bridge Landing 1.3 miles farther on is undoubtedly the best. Since the old center pillar of former VA Rte 7 was removed (Sept 2020) there are almost never any more strainers in the lower Goose.
Ran this at 1.95 a few days ago (just about as low as you go). The walk-in on the bike path is quite a ways, but it does let you run 1 or two more rapids. 2 feet was a good level to teach someone how to boat, lots of slow water, rapids were easy and safe (hardest was a class 2).
There is a tempting put-in before the bridge, but it does require crawling through a kayak-sized hole in the fence, past a 'no trespassing' sign. Please cross the bridge and walk down the public trail system, it only takes 2 extra minutes of walking.
My wife and I ran Goose Creek at 1.95 water level on 6/12/19. We strapped the 2 Pelican trailblazer 100 kayak's on a skateboard and rolled the.5 mile from Cochran Road via the WO&D path. Plenty of public parking next to the trail entrance. We entered the 2 Creeks Trail off WO&D and took the first right down a narrow/slight grade grass path to Goose Creek. River bank was about a 2 foot drop so we got in the river on a tipped over tree using a rope to hold kayak to shore. Ride was great. We scrapped a few times, but did not have to walk over rocks at all. Got hung up/spun around on Golf Course rapids, but my secret kayaking pro wife did not have any issues.
We both completed ride from Keep Loudoun Beautiful Park to Kephart Bridge Landing without any issues. This is a better section for novice paddlers. Kephart Bridge Landing is not marked at all off river so make sure you go off to the right bank after Rock Garden. GPS did not give me a good location from river. Looking forward to completing run again. Safe Travels!
River main and maps have been updated to reflect the current put-in, take-out, and parking situations. Rapids have been updated with pertinent info and pictures as well.
You can see video of the more major rapids and takeout here:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/pcOustXpPTA
03/07/2012 Edit:
Recently found a new video from some fellow paddlers on the Goose. How to not make a successful run of Golf Course Rapid: http://youtu.be/QTdlyZz\_hNI
My buddy Carter and I decided to take a chilly trip down Goose Creek on 3/28/11 with the river at 2.25' & 325cfs. Couldn't have asked for better conditions.
This is the start of Golf Course rapid. As you can see, an old weir for the nearby section of locks still spans a good portion of the stream. The middle is broken down which results in the head of Golf Course rapid. The chute is in the center of the rapid and pushes you to river right where you must avoid some large rocks which stand very close to the wave train at the end of the rapid
If you are polite, and speak to the property owner in a professional manner he/she will probably grant you access to put in on the river. The owner of the residence is used to highschoolers causing trouble around the bridge, and his skeptical of people on his property.
With the new take out after the Rock Garden, this is a nice beginners run. It would be an excellent place to teach a new paddler. Even at higher levels this river is not necessarily very pushy.