Potomac, S. Branch

May 2010: We ran this at 2.75 feet Memorial Day weekend and got worked hard because we made the mistake of bringing open canoes, loaded ones at that, onto the upper section. To be clear to all readers, open canoes have no business above the campground at this level or higher unless you have excellent skills and air bags. More water would have definitely helped, and to be clear, we did not run landslide; we put in below that. Our advice: save those open canoes for the section from the Big Bend campground down to Petersburg, which is a relatively straightforward float at that water level.

Update April 2012: We ran from halfway down upper smokehole (a few miles before Big Bend) down to Petersburg 4/14/12-4/15/12 at 2.25 feet. It was bony but we had very little walking and it was beautiful. With good reading skills and lighter gear, this can be run below recommended, though I wouldnt' run it lower than this. The final rapid at the dam had rebar sticking out but it wasn't sketchy. I recommend anyone running it at this level bring a battery-powered saw and cut that rebar out to do a big favor for boaters at higher water levels.