Upper Millers - March 22, 2024

Running the Mile Long Rapid

With 3-inches of rain earlier this week lots of rivers came up. I saw lots of trips posted, but it really wasn’t a good time for me to take time off from work. Fortunately, the water lasted until Saturday, and I was able get out on the Upper Millers.

The Millers River arises in north-central MA and flows west for 52 miles to join the Connecticut River at Millers Falls. There are two sections that are popular for whitewater boating – the Upper Millers from Royalston to Athol (class II/III), and the Lower Millers from Erving to Millers Falls (class II/IV).

The crew on Mile Long

I got an early start and dropped my boat at the put-in at Blossom Street in Royalston before heading down to the take-out at Crescent Street in Athol. We had 14 boats (4 canoes, 10 kayaks) with folks from 6 states - MA, CT, RI, NY, NH and VT. The river was running at around 1,100 cfs – my favorite level. The waves aren’t too big, the water isn’t too pushy, and there are tons of eddies to catch and waves to surf. 

The first rapid is First Trestle that starts just downstream of the put-in and continues down to the first railroad bridge – lots of waves and rocks to dodge. After some surfing and jet ferries below the railroad bridge we continued downstream. The next major rapid is Mile Long. As the name suggests, it is a long rock garden that ends at the shelter at the Bearsden Conservation Area. We worked our way down rock-hopping and catching waves.

Running the Gorge

After a break at the Buckman Brook Shelter, we continued downstream. There are a couple of class II rapids including the wave train below the lunch spot before you reach the last major rapid – the Gorge. I ran the big hole at the top of the Gorge to the left and made it through fine.

After a couple more class II rapids we were at the take-out. Work on the new canoe access is progressing nicely. There is now a road under construction down the river, and a parking lot about half-way up. It will be nice when it is done.

Links:
My Pictures
Gages on the Upper Millers