Diamond River
Swift Diamond to Wentworth Location
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 7.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Diamond River Near Wentworth Location, Nh |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 2120 cfsabove recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 5, 2023 |
River Description
Access through Dartmouth College land to the river is somewhat restricted. It is necessary to carry upstream from the take out unless special permission can be obtained. Carry up past the Dead Diamond tributary bridge and put in on the Swift Diamond as far up as you wish to hike. The Swift Diamond is mostly class III until the confluence with the Dead Diamond branch. At this point the river tumbles steeply through a narrow gorge with continous class IV water. Above 1000 cfs the gorge can be continous class IV-V with no let up till close to the takeout.
Information supplied by Todd ? at Saco Bound Northern Waters in Errol.
Access via new Greenough road for the upper portion of the Swift river put in.
River Features
New Greenough Pond Road Put In
When you get on New Greenough Pond Road, keep driving for 6.3 miles. The put in is right where the road gets close to the river. It seems to have another mile and a half of rapids (II-III) upstream of the put in. (Dixie Dam put in?)
Ellingwood falls
This 2000 feet section start at the Larry's Brook Road bridge. There are a couple C-III drops, culminating in a C-IV drop (Ellingwood falls). You will see the horizon line. The upper part of Ellingwood falls may get more messy when the water is high.
Diamond gorge
A thousand feet under the junction, you will see the beginning of the gorge. There is a Danger sign and a big rock in the middle of the river. The gorge is pretty non-stop, but at 1200 CFS there was lots of eddy to take your breath. To scout or portage you could either take out River Left before or 400 hundred feet into the gorge also river Left, depend on how confident you are. The first rapid is pretty easy to scout cause of a look-out on the road. The second one is harder. You need to bushwhack from the road. You could also scout from an eddy, river right, before the rapids ( The picture) (1200CFS).
Take Out Pond Brook road
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportRun the river from new Greenough pond road to the gate on Dead Diamond road. Wepaddleupstreamalittlestreamfor2000feettogetbacktothecarwithoutwalking.Wedidabikeshuttleviaswiftdiamondroad,winterroad,LarrybrookroadandNewGreenoughRoad.Thelevelwasgoodonbothsections(1200CFS).Wescoutentirelythegorge before running it.Reallyfun,reallyscenic.Didn'thavetimetocheckthe upper partoftheSwiftDiamondfromDixiedam.
Ran 5/26/2019 in a raft, two experienced boaters. Arguably Class IV+ at 1100 CFS. Was able to scout first big rapid from Gorge Lookout on the road, but second big rapid below was a surprise. A large boulder in the middle of the river made things tricky too.
Put in at Winter Rd on Swift Diamond and took out at Gate Camp. A few fun Class III sections and quickwater on Swift Diamond, beautiful and secluded.