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Visitor Center in Worcester
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My talk on historical sites on the lower Blackstone River got me thinking about investigating sites on the upper Blackstone, so I was up with the sun loading my boat and bike for a trip to the Visitor Center of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in Worcester. I wanted to find a put in near the headwaters of the Blackstone River.
The Blackstone arises in Worcester at the confluence of the Middle River and Mill Brook near the Visitor Center. From there, it flows general south for 48-miles through Millbury, Sutton, Grafton, Northbridge, Uxbridge, Millville, and Blackstone in MA, and Woonsocket, Cumberland, Lincoln, Central Falls, and Pawtucket in RI. After the river flows over the Pawtucket Falls it becomes the Seekonk River.
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| Upstream from Riverlin Street, Millbury |
The confluence Middle River and Mill Brook is visible from the Visitor Center, but waterfalls, fences and high retaining walls make the river inaccessible. I hopped on my bike to see if I could find a put-in a little further downstream. Unfortunately, fences along the bike path separate it from the river for most of its course. Where access is available it is far downstream making for a long portage. I rode all the way down to Millbury center with no luck finding an easy put in.
With no luck at the headwaters, I decided to check out the put-in at Riverlin Street in Millbury. Parking is easy and access to the river isn’t too bad near the bridge from the parking lot of the Goretti’s Supermarket across the street. I paddled upstream until the river became too shallow, and then I bushwhacked it up to the Millbury Rapid under the South Main Street Bridge. It was around 100 cfs on the Milbury gage and looked runnable, so it must be huge with the river is up. I suppose you could try to put in at Elm Street/River Street near the Council on Aging if you wanted to run this rapid.
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Millbury Rapid
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