Pecatonica
Sumner Park / Zen Wave (PnP)
| Difficulty | I-II |
| Length | 0.17 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Pecatonica River at Freeport, Il |
| Flow Rate as of 39 minutes | 971 cfsmedium runnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 3, 2022 |
River Description
A playspot develops for local (Rockford area) boaters at relatively low/moderate flows.
(Don't expect too much -- In general, I wouldn't drive more than a half-hour or so for it. YMMV.)
Matthew Cooper provides (2008.10.25):
I spent a few days last week playing at the Zen wave around 970cfs -1000cfs. These levels make it possible for some good enders and cartwheels in some areas. Bring your short-playboat and your beater paddle (lots of rock in the current)! Seal launch downstream the muddy slopes to the river (it looks steep but the mud is sticky and slow).
Avoid the far river right channel with the stone building remnants. There is a lot of wood in it. Immediately after that there is some picky surf available. There is a little wave with a glassy green tongue that you can front surf in. Be careful, there are rocks everywhere and it is shallow. I suspect that at higher water that this tongue might make a fairly pushy and good bow squirt, but again rocks. Surf or ferry over, there are more little waves, a few which you can carve side to side if you keep your paddle planted in the current.
Upcoming is the main flow of the river. There are two surfable waves here. The upsteam wave is kinda tricky and a hard paddle to get to. The second wave is the biggest on the river (still tame though). Catch it on side surf and carve around. (I've been trying to do flatspins in it but keep getting washed out.) When you do get washed out, paddle hard to your left (river right) and catch a not-so obvious underwater eddy with boils all around it. The big wave will be just to your right. Here it is possible to throw some big enders and squirts without getting bashed up. Keep paddling hard right through the eddy into the current and dip your bow down, the biggest push to be had is right there. There is a very nice eddy to the right (river left) of the main flow.
After getting washed out of the wave in the main flow, pa
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Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportMatt, I am in rockford and just getting into paddeling after a long time off. I have never done whitewater, for the obvious reason I am from rockford. Would love to chat with someone from the area that is into it.
The Zen wave can be a fairly decent playspot and indeed Zen-full. Though, correlation between the feature an the gauge can be tricky. After three years of coming here, it seems that anywhere from 600cfs-1300cfs will have you play. But that is only true if the marshland below the Sumner park rapids have been given proper time to drain. If the river drops too fast, the marsh cannot drop as fast and the features get swallowed up, even if the upstream gauge only reads 1000cfs. A more gradual drop in the water (I would say no more than 100cfs a day) means the correlation between the upstream gauge and the feature will be more precise. It was perfect at 1100 cfs today, as the drop in cfs has been gradual and the marshlands have had ample time to drain. The wave/hole that forms at 1100-1140cfs is challenging, but smooth. It was just deep and retentive enough to throw righty blunts, cartwheels, godzillas, etc. Its harder for flatspins due to the irregularity of the feature. But it can also be looped if you're spot on and stick it, (but I washed out 39 times out of 40) I think more Rockford area boaters should come here. Its a great spot to bring first timers due to the flatness and huge eddies below the feature. No regulations either. I imagine that the last of the play would dissappear around 1300-1400 cfs, which the Pecatonica is frequently higher than. Updated 9-9-11 by Matthew Cooper
Ive been to the Zen Wave twice this summer. Once at 1650 and today at 1080cfs. 1650 was COMPLETELY washed over with no flow. 1080 today just presented tiny features, except for a very nice long eddy line. In fact, as long as the entire rapid isn't drowned, there is always a very long eddy line. Given todays pitiful waves and holes, but nice eddy line, I decided to fill my playboat 2/3rds the way up with water and go SQUIRT boating. Turns out its alot of fun doing a bunch of pirhouttes and stalls. The river is dropping fast considering the massive drainage area. So I imagine that 1080 today will not be like 1080 a week from now, when the swampy flats down river drain a bit.
For the meantime, Im gonna rig up a low volume squirt boat with some plywood and pink foam. Should be fun!