Little Gunpowder Falls

Rapid 'Rock Island,' described in the alert below from 3 months ago, as of 5/12/19 also had a large tree significantly obstructing the left (and only remaining) channel. It may be possible to duck under the tree, depending on the water level, but it is a difficult move involving a tricky eddy, a Class III maneuver immediately after ducking, and high consequences for failure. The obstruction calls for careful scouting and assessment.

Rapid 'Rock Island' currently has a large tree across the right slot. You can scout from the eddy above it on river right, leaving only the left slot to be the move to make. From the river right eddy you can see some of the left drop but be aware and maybe get out and scout for any wood past what you can only boat scout.

Labor Day 2011 three of us scooted and ran the Little Gunpowder. Or should I say walked and knuckle
dragged our way down the river. At low water its point less to even attempt. We tried removing
the large steel re-bar hazard but proved to massive to remove. In turn it was re-bar was pinned
down under a boulder. Looks like a great creek a higher levels. According to our GPS total distance
Harford Road to Rt 40 is 7.5 miles not 5.5 miles as stated on the main page for Little Gunpowder

Ran this last weekend after a decent day of rain. Gauge only spiked at 250cfs, it was maybe 200 when we went through. The big flood storm that came through a few months ago definitely changed some scenery. The banks are wider and the 'islands' between Jerusalem and Franklinville were all but swept clean. At this level, the run was bony but we only scraped a couple times and all of the drops were runnable. One thing to note is that after the Jerusalem Road put in there is a huge near-river-wide strainer which backs up a lot of water and creates its own little rapid, passable with a tight slot move on the right but take it slow and watch for protruding branches in the slide.

This river is NOT runnable at 1.93 feet / 84 CF/s. We just went down and tried it thinking it would just be a 'little low'. We were only able to paddle about 200 yards of the first 3 miles. We had to hike along the trails and take out at Jerusalem Road bridge and hitch a ride back to the putgtin to get our vehicle. Locals told us that the river is usually a full foot higher. I would say 2.5 feet would be runnable, with 3 feet preferable. Oh well....