Sudbury River - Lincoln to Concord - November 30, 2025

Approaching Egg Rock

I usually try to do a "Day After Turkey" (Thanksgiving) paddle, but this year my daughter and grandkids were visiting. Instead, I got out today for a trip with Conrad on the Sudbury River.

The Sudbury is a National Wild and Scenic River that arises in Westborough and flows generally northeast for 41-miles to its convergence with the Assabet at Egg Rock in Concord. From there the river continues as the Concord, which flows generally north for about 16-miles until its convergence with the Merrimack River in Lowell.

Conrad and Erik

We would be doing the section from the Lincoln Canoe Launch to the Lowell Road Boat Ramp – about 5-miles. The forecast was for rain in the afternoon, so we met at 9:00 to run the shuttle and were on the water around 10:00. There was ice at the boat launch, but the river itself was clear.

Just downstream of the boat launch is Fairhaven Bay, a wide-open section of the river that was written about by Henry David Thoreau. While mostly marshland upstream, this section is lined with big beautiful houses. We ended the trip at Egg Rock, where the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers converge to form the Concord River. We were on our way home before the rain started.

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Sudbury River Padders Trail

SUASCO Watershed Association - OARS

Borderland State Park - November 15, 2025

I didn’t see any paddling trips today, so I decided to join Papa Joe and the crew for a hike at Borderland State Park. We started at the main entrance and hiked 5-miles up into the woods on the West Side, French and Granite Trails before looping back around Leach Pond on the Pond Walk and Swamp Trails.

The Borderland Estate was established in 1906 when Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist and his wife Blanche purchased land on the border of Sharon and Easton. There they built a mansion and created a nature preserve with woodland paths, roadways and man-made ponds. The estate remained in the family for 65 years until it was acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1971 and opened as a state park. Today the park includes 1,843 acres with more than 20 miles of trails including sections of the Bay Circuit Trail.

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Trail Map

Friends of Borderland

Tville - November 8, 2025

Below the First Drop

We got a little rain this week and Tville came up to a low, but still fun level – 1.5 feet, 500, cfs. I contacted Paul D. and he was up for a morning run. I didn’t want to scratch up my Millbrook Outrage, but it was a perfect opportunity to try out my Mad River Outrage with the slightly higher (9”) pedestal.

We met at the Mill at 10:00 and ran the shuttle down to the take-out. We skipped the rapids at the top that would have been boney, but there was plenty of water at Cathy’s Wave and Brown's Ledge. I ran the Bridge Abutment Rapid first, but my camera was messed up so I missed Paul coming through.

Running the Second Drop

I ran the rapids above the Play Hole to the left – a little too far left. I caught my bow in one of the eddies above the Play Hole and got spun around. I just caught the edge of the Play Hole going through backwards, but made it through fine.

The removal of the Spoonville Dam in 2012 revealed a series of three class III drops below the Play Hole. I ran the first down the ledges on the left, but ferried over to river right to get a couple of pictures of the bigger drop on the right.

Below the Third Drop

I ran the second drop to the right – once again a little too far to the right. This time I ended up in the rocks above the drop. I worked my way out, ran the drop, and caught the eddy on the right. After ferrying to the left, the third drop is easy.

After practicing ferries below the third drop we headed down to Typewriter. I caught the eddy on the left, and then ferried across, but got sucked downstream in the big current. We practiced eddy turns and peal outs in Vortex before heading down to the take out. I was on the road home by 1:30.

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Tville Gage

River Description on American Whitewater