Manassas Run

Posted by Steve Ettinger on April 03, 2005 at 21:39:49:

On Saturday, RC Forney and I took advantage of the brief respite between rainfalls to paddle Manassas Run. We put in from Dismal Hollow Road, just downstream of the Park 'n Ride, near the Linden exit from I-66, and took out 2.8 miles later, at SR 624. The gradient averaged 82 feet/mile. Even at the minimal water level we had, the rapids were pretty continuous, and several drops were class III, especially in the first half of the trip. There were no creek-wide strainers, and the only portage we had to make was around a low-water driveway (where a large dog seemed not to appreciate us, until he was collared by his owner). The creek braided briefly in two spots, but we found clean routes (on the left and down the middle, respectively). The scenery is rather drab, with too many views of I-66 (which crossed our path 3 times). All in all, however, it's a nice little creek, and it even has its own Internet gauge (which should be at least 125 cfs for a clean run). There's another 1.7 miles from our takeout to the Shenandoah (at Morgan's Ford), but we eschewed that because it had 4 wire fences and even more tree strainers when I continued down that section 16 years ago.