Saranac
3. High Falls Gorge
| Difficulty | V+ |
| Length | 0.78 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Saranac River at Plattsburgh Ny |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 1130 cfs |
| Reach Info Last Updated | September 7, 2022 |
Projects
The Saranac is beautiful river, mostly in the Adirondack Park boundaries. High Falls Gorge is a spectacular series of 4-5 waterfalls in a tight vertical walled gorge lasting only about a mile. A flow study revealed that all the falls except for the final one were runnable, and that [...]Read More
River Description
The High Falls Gorge is a spectacular vertical-walled gorge containing several large waterfalls and a TOTALLY UNRUNNABLE final waterfall.
At this time, little is known about the safety or appeal of running any of the drops in the gorge. One thing is sure, the gorge should only be attempted by teams of expert boaters with shore support and with experience exploring large waterfalls. It is imperative to scout carefully and take out several rapids above the final 60+ foot unrunnable waterfall.
Historically, the Gorge has been illegal to paddle or even scout, but a recent FERC License has lifted this closure based on AW advocacy. American Whitewater also secured a realtime gage for the reach to help with public safety: https://ebiz1.nyseg.com/cusweb/flowdata.aspx
Be Careful.
Plattsburgh Area Reaches
Ausable (Ausable Chasm) Ausable, E. Branch
Ausable, W. Branch (4. High Falls Gorge) Ausable, W. Branch (5. The Flume)
Ausable, W. Branch (Section 6) Black Brook
Boquet, S. Branch Boquet, N. Branch
Chateaugay Great Chazy (Chazy Lake to Miner Lake)
Great Chazy (Miner Lake to Mooers) Great Chazy, North Branch
...River Features
Take Out
Put In
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThis is the first rapid in the gorge. A bit low for this rapid but not the others...
This is the first waterfall of i think 5. This waterfall looks runable, but it has to be done right because part of it falls on to a rocky ledge thing....
this is the rapid after the 1st waterfall...
This is the 2nd waterfall. it is hard to tell but it falls into a pocket/corner. Need some sort of safety ready and take a good amount of time to scout. There are two more water falls 3rd and 4th that i didnt have time to take, but i did take a pick of hte 5th. the 3rd and 4th are huge....
This is an overhead shot after waterfall 4. This is the last rapid you should run!!!!
This is the pool you should get out in. after this is a very nice section of rapids, but it leads into a very nice DEATH DROP!
This is a nice 60 foot death drop onto rocks.. Ya i would walk here guys.. if you have a big sac you could run the rapids right above it and take out in a super small pool before going over the falls. i believe there have been two guys that have done such a run, but hey i wouldnt!
This is a lead in rapid to the start of the waterfall pool drops.