Naugatuck

There 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.