Naugatuck
1. Torrington
| Difficulty | II-III+ |
| Length | 4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 47 fpm |
| Reach Info Last Updated | October 2, 2020 |
River Description
This run is best described in two sections. The upper section, from the dam at the putin down to essentially the Shell Station/Dunkin' Donuts when the river crosses under route 4 is very creeky. No particularly serious rapids, but beware of strainers -- there are often mandatory portages, but everything should be visible from above. Be subtle when portaging and stay as close to the river as possible -- you're right in people's backyards on this run. Mostly class II-III continous fun. There's one or two man-made drops in this section, but everthing is pretty small and straight forward. The second section has two runnable dams in it. The first, shortly after the end of the creeky section is an 8-foot (appr.) slide with a lip that bottoms out and shoots you out into the pool. Beware at higher levels, the hole can get incredibly nasty (even terminal), but there is apparently a line (with no margin for error) on far river left where the lip is backed up by a rock shelf that you can ride past the hole -- don't try this without extensive scouting. At normal levels, run a little left of center. This drop is best scouted before you put on by turning south on Riverside Avenue at the traffic light on route 4 next to the Shell Station/Dunkin' Donuts. The dam is behind the Riverside Deli, a short ways down on your left. The second dam is an 18-foot vertical drop that bottoms out nicely. Scout it on river left just above it (there's a huge, slow moving pool). At low water be very careful and consider portaging due to risk of pitoning (or just seriously scraping the bottom of your boat). Also, stay away from the river-left edge -- a rock wall sticks out a bit at the bottom. The only major rapids in this half of the river are in a gorge in downtown Torrington. There are some fun class III rapids and a number of playable holes (that are usually fairly shallow, unfortunately). Beware of occasional bits of metal sticking out from the wall, particularly the river right one. After th
...River Features
Take Out
Put In
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThere is also now a lower section of the Naugatuck commonly kayaked. It is class I-II and starts in southern Waterbury on Platts Mills Street of off of exitt 29 of rt 8. You can put in Behind and across from an old howard johnson now called the brass city restraunt I believe at the intersection of Platts Mills Street and S Main Street for a Harder Class 2 Start or put in about a half mile below at a large fisherman park/pullover for a beginner start. There is a race on this section now every year.The take out is off off exit 24 of rt8 in beacon falls under the Depot St bridge near the rail road station. The run is about six miles long and there are lower and higher put ins and outs as well. Th river is at a fluid level at 3 and really fun around 4.
This is the section that has been run recently as the Naugatuck River Race and Festival. It is mainly class 1 and 2 and has a lot of wave trains and well spaced rapids. The first rapid is definitely the hardest probably class II plus. Very scenic believe it or not, the highway and train tracks run along it the whole way so it is very noisy though. This river has cleaned up a lot.
Put in at the Platts Mill section of South Waterbury off of rt 8 exit 29. We parked in back of the Brass City restaurant and crossed the road below it to put in. The take out is in Beacon Falls, exit 24 below the metal bridge on Depot Street. There is a metro north train station to park at across the street. The put in I mention here is slightly above the race put in and includes this sections toughest rapid almost immediately so be prepared for a class 2 plus rapid right off the bat. I ran it at four feet which was a great level I have heard of it being run as low as 2 and a half.
This is the section that has been run recently as the Naugatuck River Race and Festival. It is mainly class 1 and 2 and has a lot of wave trains and well spaced rapids. The first rapid is definitely the hardest probably class II plus. Very scenic believe it or not, the highway and train tracks run along it the whole way so it is very noisy though. This river has cleaned up a lot.
Put in at the Platts Mill section of South Waterbury off of rt 8 exit 29. We parked in back of the Brass City restaurant and crossed the road below it to put in. The take out is in Beacon Falls, exit 24 below the metal bridge on Depot Street. There is a metro north train station to park at across the street. The put in I mention here is slightly above the race put in and includes this sections toughest rapid almost immediately so be prepared for a class 2 plus rapid right off the bat. I ran it at four feet which was a great level I have heard of it being run as low as 2 and a half.
This is the section that has been run recently as the Naugatuck River Race and Festival. It is mainly class 1 and 2 and has a lot of wave trains and well spaced rapids. The first rapid is definitely the hardest probably class II plus. Very scenic believe it or not, the highway and train tracks run along it the whole way so it is very noisy though. This river has cleaned up a lot.
Put in at the Platts Mill section of South Waterbury off of rt 8 exit 29. We parked in back of the Brass City restaurant and crossed the road below it to put in. The take out is in Beacon Falls, exit 24 below the metal bridge on Depot Street. There is a metro north train station to park at across the street. The put in I mention here is slightly above the race put in and includes this sections toughest rapid almost immediately so be prepared for a class 2 plus rapid right off the bat. I ran it at four feet which was a great level I have heard of it being run as low as 2 and a half.
UPDATE:
The gauge is at Thomaston which is a flood control dam miles downstream of the section we paddle. During last weeks flood they actually ponded up a few billion gallons to release later. The upper West branch is basically a small creek and will be up when the Hubbard and Sandy are running.
Warning- do not rely on the gauge information for the Naugatuck. Right now the river is too high to run safely-lots of trees and some nasty keepers- but the gauge says its only 240 cfs. The actual volume must be at least a thousand or more. Look at the dam behind the Riverside Deli in West Torrington. If there is a giant hole then the run is HIGH.