Assebet - Acton to Concord - November 20, 2020

Bike shuttle from Lowell Road

I was checking my vacation time and realized that I still have three weeks of vacation, but only six weeks left in the year to take it. Nice problem to have. I sent an email to Jonathan to see if he could do some weekday paddling. The forecast for Friday was sunny and warm but maybe a little windy, so we decided to paddle the Assabet from Acton to Concord – 5-mile bike shuttle, 6-mile paddle.

The Assabet River arises in Westborough and flows approximately 34 miles west to meet with the Sudbury River at Egg Rock in Concord and form the Concord River. There’s lots of great flatwater paddling on the Assabet including the section from Gleasondale to the Ben Smith Dam. The section through Maynard is an easy class II with some nice surf waves by the Ben Smith Dam and along Walnut Street near the mills. 

No more rapids at the Damondale Dam

I was on my way up to Acton when I got a call from Jonathan to tell me that he had a family issue and wouldn’t be able to make the trip. Fortunately Conrad had signed on as well, so at least I wouldn’t have to do the trip alone. We dropped off out boats at the Acton Canoe Launch at around 10:00 and drove down to Lowell Road for the half-hour bike shuttle back.  

We got on the water a little before 11:00 and headed downstream. The river was low, but still fluid - 1.8 feet, 60 cfs on the Maynard gage.  This would be my fist trip since the removal of the Damondale Dam.  The easy rapids through the breach in the old broken dam were my favorite part of this trip. Oh well - still a great day.

Lowell Road Take-Out

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Maynard Gage