Scouting the Moosup River – March 3, 2024

Put-in at Brunswick Avne

Before paddling the Quinebaug with Paul and Mike, I decided to scout out the Moosup River. This was a popular whitewater river back in the early RICKA days, but I haven’t heard of anyone paddling it in years. I grabbed my 1980 edition of Canoeing Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut by Ken Webber and headed out.

The Moosup River arises at Clark Pond in Foster, RI and flows generally south and then west for 23-miles to its convergence with the Quinebaug River in Plainfield, CT.  There are two sections of the Moosup that were pretty regularly paddled in the past – the “wilderness” section in RI, and the “whitewater” section in CT,

Upstream from Barber Hill Road

The only person that I ever knew to paddle the “wilderness” section was Mike B. It twists and turns from Foster, through Coventry and into Sterling, CT. In the past it was kept clear of blowdowns by the boy scouts for their spring trips, but is now overgrown.  

The “whitewater” section was a pretty popular beginner run back in the old RICKA whitewater days.  I haven’t heard of anyone paddling this section for years. I couldn’t find a gage for the Moosup, but it was flowing nice today, so a good rain or snow melt will bring it up. The Quinebaug gage in Putnam (upstream) was 5.2-feet, 1,500 cfs. and in Jewett City (downstream) was 10.6-feet, 4,500 cfs. 

Upstream from Pond Street Bridge

The put-in is at an abandoned bridge on Brunswick Avenue off Goshen Street. The take-out is at an abandoned bridge on the School Street Extension off Black Hill Road. Mike said that in the past the locals could be a bit of a pain about parking and access at the take out – I don’t know if that is still true. Route 14 runs along the river and connects the put-in to the take-out.

Interestingly, three of the dams noted in Ken Weber's 1980 description of the run have now been removed. Moosup Dam #1 above the Norwich Road Bridge was removed in 2014. The Griswold Rubber Dam, described in Ken Weber's book as the “broken dam”, was removed in 2015.  And the  Brunswick Mill #1 Dam located just downstream of the put-in was removed in 2017. That leaves one dam remaining that needs to be portaged – below River Street after the railroad bridge.

Upstream from Norwich Road
(Route 12) Bridge

I found the put-in at Brunswick Avenue and it looked like access would still be possible. I checked out the river from several of the bridges over the river. It was at a nice level with the recent rain, and seemed clear of blow downs from what I could see. Its about a 4-mile run, and at least according to Ken Webber's book, the best rapids are after I-395.

Mike showed me the take-out at the School Street Extension off the Black Hill Road (Route 14). If you miss this take out, its 6-miles of flatwater to the next take-out at Canterbury on the Quinebaug.

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