Gunpowder Falls

This summer we've done this full section once and the lower half of it twice (level: low runnnable both times). The whole stretch is beautiful, but full of strainers. You are going to be climbing out of your boat A LOT to lift your boat over a tree. Some of these are in class I rapids. I had my dog, who is a good swimmer, but I was definitely happy he had a life jacket on and I don't think I would bring him to do this if the water was above 'low runnable'. The Quarry Rapid (Class II) is a solid run though and very clean.

My recommendation: if you want to do the Quarry Rapid but skip the bulk of the stainers, then put in at Big Falls Rd. (immediately above the rapid) and ride down past Monkton into the following river stretch, 'Monkton Road to Phoenix (Upper Gunpowder - Glencoe Section)'. Lots of potential take outs enable you to scale how long of a float you want to do.

Stay quiet on the river and you should see some bald eagles (saw 3 yesterday).

Almost fucking died here today,not the only one either, there all over fuck this river !!!

Really just don't do it.

Just ran from Falls Rd. down to Blue Mount Rd. and it was a 'relatively' smooth run at 2.15 on the gauge. There were a bunch of strainers (prob 10-12) that covered most of the river. All but one were passable but usually required pretty precise paddling (had about 2 boat widths of space). It was a little scrapey at points but overall the level was passable. There was a little bit more 'fun' right by the Falls Rd bridge and the waves down by the quarry were a welcome sight after mostly flat water and some class I stuff throughout. It was worth the 2 Hrs at 2.15. Still think that 3 is the ideal for this stretch.

Early Spring on the Upper Gunpowder. About 2.1ft @ Falls Road

ran from the dam down to blue mount rd. saturday. level was 2.5 ft. the gorge was running nice at this level, and a couple of spots were surfable with my 10ft. pyranha fusion. no strainers in the gorge to speak of. there were a total of 4 river wide strainers down to blue mount but only one we had to portage. i've never run from york rd. down to blue mount before today, but found it to be a pretty fun run. there was a very unexpected long wave train at the 'Blue Mt Quarry Patuxent'. it was about 100 ft long, and about .5 mile from the end at blue mount rd. even the flat water sections on the run as a hole had moving water. 3ft would make this total run a bit more fun, but some strainers that we could go under at 2.5 ft., would have to be portaged at 3ft, and others would be easier to go over.

Put in at Blue Mount Rd and took out downstream of Monkton at Lower Glencoe rd. Several new trees across the creek. One shortly after the put in above Monkton and 3-4 more downstream of Monkton. I think we had to portage around 4 of them. Nice trip though. Took about 2.5 hours with a 7 yr old. Level was 2.08.

Jason Walker
Paddled from Bluemont road to Monkton on Saturday June 6th. Level was about 1.91'. Went out with a friend and my 7 year old son. He really likes this run mostly for the ice cream at the end of the line in Monkton. As other posts warn, deadwood is something to be aware of. There were a couple of potential strainers along the way but even my son was able to steer clear with ease.

Gunpowder River at York Road (MD-45) Bridge

Paddled 4/15/06 Cleared most major strainers but there are some narrow channels around other wood. Need to be moderately cautious. At 1st rapid (90 degree bend) there is a stump in the middle of the rapid, narrow passage on right, better to stay left if possible

Paddled from Masemore Road to Blue Mount Road on May 10, 2004. Level was right around 2'. Lots of dead wood down but everything was passable. Thanks to the kind soul or souls who cleared paths through the strainers that previoulsy had to be portaged. For those who have never paddled this strech its a very scenic PN run...most of your trouble will come from the dead wood but anyone with good boat control should have no problems. Quarry Rapid at the end of the run will delight the novice paddler.