Middlebury River

Update 5/14/2019
A rock has shifted in Rebirth and has yet to be run by locals this spring. People have been running from below the Birth Canal which still offers a good amount of quality whitewater. Tester has a riverwide strainer just above the drop making it a portage for now.

Please note the comment from VTrans about construction on the bridge. VTrans is advising paddlers to stay away from the bridge for at least a month and a half.

On August 28th, 2011 Hurricane Irene struck New England. The resulting floods caused extensive damage throughout the region, the worst in over 100 years. More than half the rivers in Vermont and northern New Hampshire recorded their highest flow levels ever. Many roads, guardrails, power lines, bridges, trees and other debris now litter several rivers throughout the region. River beds have been scoured and changed course, many new strainers make navigation problematic at best and downright dangerous at worse. Please realize that the river description you see here may not match current situation after the floods. Use common sense and when in doubt scout especially on blind drops. Also, if you run this river in the next year or so please comment on its navigability, even if there are no problems this will be very helpful. Please report any new strainers or changes to the rapids that will impact future boating.
Thank you,

More wood in the Gorge the entrance to fallopian is unrunnable. Note that this comment is NOT old April 30, 2010

March 28th 2010: big wood in 'Your Mom' sorry for the nasty pun.... portage!!

Just heard there's new wood in Rebirth...Midd Gorge is back out for the time being.

Christian Woodward reported on 9-30-07:
The wood's still in there, as you can see from the linked picture (http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t57/cswoodard/?action=view¤t=IMGP0267.jpg), but it has shifted a little bit downstream since that post, so that there's clearance to get through. The log is right in Rebirth, but as long as it's a reasonable level, you can get under on the right side. If you come up and run it and aren't sure about the clearance, there is a legitimate, though steep, path that you can walk down to the bottom of the Birth Canal and check.

Ditto on the log- it means we're back to a very stout portage which is NOT possible from the level immediately above the log-BE CAREFUL

CAUTION: As of 04/08/07, there is wood that has collected in the entrance to Rebirth. At low water, the log sits a foot or two above the water and extends across the entire drop.