Paddling on the Black River

Black River - The easier of the two Black sections on highway 7, this spring run is a fun straight forward paddle. Swifts and some small play waves to the medium sized falls. Eddy right to scout. Exit feature to the left to avoid getting pushed into the rock wall. The canyon section eddies out river right to scout. Be wary of the approach, it comes up fast.

Black River - 4 Rapids: High falls- large class IV, Low Falls, Bridge rapids, and then Bone falls. Look for the Black River gauge to be above 15 M3/s to have a good run. Level Six

Black River - Seldom done, several drops seem to catch wood, but are impressive from shore. When the water level is high, the way becomes less clear, but there is a route through. A park and huck.

Black River - Classic Northern New York run. This is the summertime classic that runs year round. Winter and Spring brings floodstage which has some stakeout style waves! Summertime this is a slicey boat gem with lots of surf and a couple larger rapids

Black River - Awesome surf wave, the shape has changed over the years and it isn't what it used to be, but at the right levels the wave returns

Black River - Class 3/4, with two big 4’s that are easy to scout and portage. There are a couple of long narrow 3s that are not easy to scout, so boat scouting at that level is a good skill on this run. One of the more popular runs in the area, and deservedly so. The river has continuous interest and a few harder drops that are a lot of fun. Shortly after the put in, there are a couple of sections of narrow canyon. At the time of writing, the second of these had some wood in the top right chute, easily avoidable either side but hard to see. A house on the right and a horizon line heralds a drop called 3B falls. Scout either side, or portage on the right - please keep to the trail. Most people run down this on the left as there is a sticky hole in the centre. All the rest of the rapids can be boat scouted until the next big drop. The Particle Accelerator is a 30 degree slide, usually run right of centre. Easiest inspection and portage is on the right. There is a big rock (target station) in the run out that forms a great boof in higher flows. More fun rapids follow, easing off towards the takeout in Queensborough. Either take out on the right above the dam, or this can be run on the right side. Take a good look, as there are rocks in the pool below. Paddlers have earned themselves a welcome in Queensborough, and there is usually a bake sale at the takeout on the weekend of MACKfest, manned by the local ladies. A great finish to a fine river.