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| West Cornwal Covered Bridge |
One of the rivers that has been on my to-do list for a while
is the Housatonic. When I saw that
a group would be paddling it on New Year’s Day, I decided to tag along.
The Housatonic originates in the Berkshire Hills of western
MA and flows south for 150 miles along the western border of MA and CT before emptying into Long Island Sound. There’s lots of great paddling along the Housatonic River. The best-known whitewater section is a class IV run known as Bulls Bridge - it's well above my skill set. There is also a pretty flatwater
section from Ashley Falls (MA) to Falls Village (CT), and a nice quickwater run from
Falls Village to Kent. We would be
running part of the quickwater run – putting in above the Covered Bridge in West Cornwall, and taking out at the at Housatonic Meadows State Park.
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| Running the Covered Bridge Rapid |
The day was sunny and traffic was light as I did the 3-hour
drive out to western CT. A light
snow covered the Northwest Hills as I met the group at the Covered Bridge in
West Cornwall. We ran the shuttle,
dropping our boats off on River Road above the Covered Bridge, and leaving cars
at the picnic area below the campground at the Housatonic Meadows State Park. The river was at a medium-low level – 3 feet, 900 cfs. I guess you can run it down to about 500 cfs, and medium flow is
around 2,000 cfs.
The West Cornwall Covered Bridge was first constructed in 1762,
and is one of the earliest bridges across the Housatonic River. Beneath the Covered Bridge is a short
class I/II rapid known appropriately enough at the “Covered Bridge Rapid”. This is the site of an annual spring slalom race. We spent some time
playing in the rapids before heading downstream.
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| Playing in the Covered Bridge Rapid |
A little ways below the Covered Bridge Rapid is a shorter
class I/II rapid known at the Ledges.
From there, the river alternated between flatwater, quickwater and
riffles. It took us a couple of hours
to do the 5-mile run.
I’d love to come back in the summer and spend a night or two
at the Housatonic Meadows Campground.
We could paddle from Falls Village to the campground on day 1. Paddle
from the Campground to Kent on day 2.
And maybe even do the section from Ashley Falls to Falls Village on day
3. We’ll see.
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| A pretty section of the Housatonic |
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