Esopus Creek
2) Allaben Portal to Phoenicia
| Difficulty | II-III |
| Length | 4.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Esopus Creek at Coldbrook Ny |
| Flow Rate as of 36 minutes | 4.80 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | June 1, 2020 |
River Description
The Allaben portal is where water from the Schoharie Reservoir is piped into the Esopus for transport to the Ashokan Reservoir. There is almost always a minimum flow of perhaps 100CFS from the portal, and augmented flows to facilitate paddling are possible a few times a year. The usual dates are the first full weekend of June, the second weekend of July, Labor Day weekend, and the first weekend of October. Those augmented flows are dependent on approval by the NYC water supply department, and do not always happen. Confirmation of the releases will usually be posted on the website of KCCNY.
The banks of the Esopus are very prone to erosion, and there have been several deaths as a result of entrapment in strainers between the portal and Boiceville. Paddlers and tubers should expect to find strainers every time they run the Esopus. While strainers most likely on the outside of bends where the current undercuts the banks, narrower sections or channels occasionally have river-wide strainers.
About 1/2 mile down from this put-in is a left-hand turn with a very large and seemingly permanent strainer that claimed the life of a private tuber and a kayaker in the summer of 2002. They are easily avoidable but one must be aware of this danger. As a result of this strainer and the deaths the tubing companies and most paddlers put in at the fishing access next to the cemetery about 3/4 of a mile downstream of the portal. This access is labeled on Google Maps.
From the cemetery access you get right into the first playspot called 'Cartwheel Hole' which is a double squirt line separated by a large boulder in the center of the river. Mystery moves have been gotten here by squirt boaters between 5.5 and 6 ft. This is also a great place to practice ferries, peel outs and eddy turns to get warmed up before continuing.
From here it's more of a technical cl
...River Features
No Name
In the fall on 2003 the dep did extensive work at the confluence with woodland valley, redirectin the river away from an eroding bank with a perpetual strainer. As a result, storms which shortly followed removed the popular bridge wave.
Cemetery Put-In
This is an alternative put-in 1mile downstream of the portal with good parking and river access. It avoids some of the dangerous strainers on the early section.
River Left Strainer
Dangerous pile of logs forms a large strainer on river left after the cemetery put-in. The fastest current sweeps under it.
Anglers' Parking Takeout
Alternative takeout on Route 40 (Mt-Tremper-Phoenicia Rd) that adds 1mile to the run. There is space for four or five vehicles in the anglers' parking here.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportYou can not see this from the start of the rapid
MMMMMMMM.....Good and Muddy
Thanks to the Highway Dept., we now have a significant drop, just above the normal Slalom Course.
For the full-sized version of this photo (848 k), click here.
Back in the day, the Esopus was our go-to WW river in the summer, on release weekends there were all of the 'usual suspects' Miss those days when the water was warm enough to paddle without immersion gear!
same as other pic.