Quinebaug – Danielson to Canterbury - August 28, 2021 - Low Water Run - August 28, 2021

Paul L.

With my son coming down from ME on Saturday and my mother’s birthday on Sunday I was planning to stay close to home this weekend, but when Paul L. suggested an early morning run on the Quinebaug, I couldn’t resist. Paul D. and Bill joined in as well.

The Quinebaug River arises above East Brimfield Lake in Sturbridge and flows generally southeast for 60 miles through MA and CT to Norwich where it joins the Willimantic to form the Shetucket. I have done several sections of the Quinebaug including Holland Pond to East Brimfield, Sturbridge to Southbridge, Fabyan to West Thompson and Putnam to Dayville/Brooklyn.

Paul D.

Today we would be running the section from Danielson to Canterbury – about 10-miles. (You can also shorten this trip to 5.3 miles by taking out at the CT DEEP Fish Hatchery.) We met at 8:00 a.m. at the put in at 39 Wauregan Road in Danielson, and ran the shuttle down to the take –out at the Robert Manship Park at 50 Lovell Lane in Canterbury.

We got on the water at around 9:00 a.m. and headed downstream. The level was 3.6 feet, 600 cfs on the Putnam gage - OK, but 1,000 cfs would be better. This is one of the longer and more challenging sections of the Quinebaug with lots of quickwater, a couple of broken dams and a couple of easy rapids. The run took us about 3-hours - can't believe I hadn't paddled this before.

A typical section of the Quinebaug

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