DuPage

Scout Report - Black Road to Hammel Woods Dam: Flow 500cfs, water temp 49, air temp 59, sunny, boat: RPM Max. This section was scouted as a potential beginner kayaker teaching venue. There's only one whitewater feature on this run. The experienced whitewater kayaker will find little of interest on this stretch.

Put-in/Access: Under Black Street bridge. Park in the DuPage River Access lot (look for signage), the first parking lot West of I-55 on the South side of Black Road. There's a foot path from the lot going under the bridge. Watch out for joggers and bicyclists. Immediately downstream of the bridge on river right is a red sign that warns of a low head dam 1.5 miles ahead.

Soon (about a 1000 feet) after the put-in the river will curve to the right, then to the left. The river then splits right and left around a large island. The right path carries more current. The left path is more prone to scraping and deadfall, but both were navigable at this flow. This is actually the entrance to a small bunch of fishnet islands (check it out on Google Maps). If you go to the right, avoid the temptation to go down alternative paths; stay in the main flow. The river up to and including the fishnet islands can give some eddy and river reading practice for an absolute beginner.

After the two steams rejoin, the river will make a turn to the left. The only 'whitewater' feature is just after this turn. You can barely see it on Google Maps. Just after the turn to the left, there is a small ledge that creates a surf wave that can be caught on the fly, or attained mostly on river right with some effort. By the way, you are just over half-way through the trip at this point.

After the surf wave, it is pretty much a paddle out to the dam take-out. The water velocity will slow in the pond above the dam, so there's little danger of being swept over the dam by the current HOWEVER; the 'horizon line' is very difficult to see. It is very subtle and even experienced paddlers may have trouble seeing it. The nice thing is only the most inept paddlers would not be able to paddle away from the dam once they realize it is there. There is a red sign river right about 100 yards above the dam that indicates the take out and mandatory portage.