Knightville section of the Westfield – April 21, 2018

Lined up and ready to race

I’m an early riser, so I prefer trips that start early, and I tend to get there early. The annual Jim O'Brien Memorial Paddle on the Knightville section of the Westfield fits the bill since we need to get on the river early to beat the racers. 

Paul and I arrived at the take-out around 8:30 and had some time to kill before the 10:00 shuttle, so we stopped to check out the Westfield River Wildwater Race. According to the website, this is the oldest consecutively run canoe race in the US. The novice race puts in on the Middle Branch in Huntington, and the "pro" race starts below the dam on the North Branch. It was nice to see so many canoes out on the river, even if many of them were paddled with double blades.

View of the River from the Knightville Dam

From there, we decided to check out the Knightville Dam and Reservoir. The dam is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers and includes 2,400 acres of undeveloped flood control land. After hiking down to the reservoir, we drove over to the dam itself, which gave us a great view of the river below.

At 9:30, we pulled into the picnic area below the dam to unload our boats and change in our paddling gear. A small group had started to gather as I headed out to run the shuttle. The Jim O'Brien Memorial Paddle is an annual trip in memory of a local boater who died seven years ago in a tragic whitewater accident. The level was about 5’, 1,100 cfs – a typical dam release level. The river is mostly class II rock dodging until you enter the Gorge in the Gardner State Park.

Paul Running the Gorge Drop

There are two drops in the Gorge section. The first is an unnamed rapid that is about 25 yards long that I ran to the right. The second is a 3-foot ledge known as the Gorge Drop. It can be seen from upstream by a big rock in the middle of the river. You run this just to the right of the rock, and move left to catch the eddy, or at least avoid the big haystacks downstream.

From the Gorge Drop down to the take out there are some rock gardens with a nice surf wave below the Route 112 Bridge. The run took about 2 hours at a leisurely pace.  

Surfing below the Worthington Road (Route 112) Bridge

Links:

My Pictures

Knightville Gage

Westfield River Wildwater Race

Army Corps of Engineers - Knightville Dam Gage

River Description - American Whitewater