Little

Bill Hearn
2 hrs
The Little River will be releasing 375 cfs / 10 Million Gallons per Hour / 1 Turbine on Today Wednesday, August 15th, Thursday, August 16th, & Friday, August 17th, from 7-11 AM & 5-10 PM each day.

Shuttle Directions From Takeout to Parking for Putin:
Takeout: Bridge over Little River on Northwest Road
42.130360,-72.822643
Head north on NW Rd toward Old Quarry Rd for 0.5 mi
Turn left onto Western Ave for 0.7 mi
Continue onto General Knox Rd for 1.8 mi
Turn left onto S Quarter Rd for 1.2 mi
Turn left onto Entrance Rd for 0.6 mi to parking
42.135048, -72.861574
AMC Noble View Outdoor Center
635 S Quarter Rd, Russell, MA 01071
https://www.google.com/…/data=!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x89e7…

Hiking Directions to Putin from AMC Noble Camp:
Enter 'Laurel Lane' Trail just South of 'Farmhouse' (U in Blue Circle). / Just East of Parking Lot 42.134576, -72.860248
Follow 'Laurel Lane' Trail South 0.8 Miles and take a Sharp Left Turn East onto 'Charcoal Kiln' Trail for ~ 0.3 Miles. ~100 yards past intersection with 'Lookout' Trail turn right / downhill to Bushwack SouthEast ~0.2 Miles & ~400 vertical feet downhill to the Eastern & downstream side of the Springfield Water Intake Dam:. 42.118713,-72.857263

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/cont…/River/detail/…/693/

The Little River is a small stream that is dam release when there is excess water available from the Cobble Hill Reservoir, which is a drinking water supply for Westfield. The run starts below an unrunnable dam about 1 mile downstream of the outlet of the reservoir, which is almost always dry. The section between the reservoir and the put in looks to be very steep and rocky, probable class 5, likely only runs during floods.

The Little River is mostly continuous class 3, with a class 4 drop towards the end known as Evie's Diner. We ran the river in 2001 when all three turbines were releasing, which I understand is about 600 cfs (200 per turbine). This was a sporting level; Jim Michaud showed us the lines, and indicated that the river could be run as low as 1 turbine, but was scratchy at that level. There were several down trees, but nothing that had to be portaged. By the way, the put-in requires lowering the boats down a steep embankment, a rope is handy.