Quinebaug - Danielson to Plainfield - May 19, 2024

Heading out

I was going to paddle Great Swamp with Chuck today, but it got cancelled due to high water. I thought about going out to paddle the Covered Bridge section of the Housatonic with Paul D, but it is a really long drive. Instead, sent an email to Paul L looking to paddle the Branch. He wasn’t interested in that, so we were back on the Q2 – second time this year.

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. The Q2 (as Paul calls it) is the section from Danielson to Plainfield.

Crew at the take-out

I met Paul at 10:00, and Ben showed up a little later. The river was at a nice level – 4.5-feet, 1,100 cfs. The river starts off with quickwater until you reach the first rapid - the Dyer Dam about 2-miles downstream. I ran center left, Paul and Ben went right.

More quickwater follows until 5-miles downstream when you reach the Wauregan Dam above the Wauregen Road Bridge. The waves at the top right were big, but we  stayed right anyway. The trip took us about 2 hours.

Quinebaug from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Quinebaug Gage - Putnam

Quinebaug River - Danielson to Plainfield - March 3, 2024

Running the Dyer Dam

I needed to paddle a little later today, so when I got an email from Paul looking to paddle the Q2 at 1:00, it worked out perfect. 

The Q2 is the section of the Quinebaug below Danielson, CT. On this trip we did the 5-mile section down to Plainfield. You can also do another 5-miles down to Canterbury. I met Paul at 1:00 at Wayne R. LaFreniere Memorial Field (39 Wauregan Road, Danielson) for the shuttle down to the Fish Hatchery (145 Trout Hatchery Road, Plainfield). When I arrived I was surprised to see Mike there as well. The temps were in the low 60's, and we had a great level - 5 feet, 1,500 cfs.

Running the Wauregen Dam Rapid

The river starts off with quickwater until you reach the first rapid - the broken Dyer Dam about 2-miles downstream. There is rebar on river right, so the best line is center, or to the left. More quickwater follows until 5-miles downstream when you reach the Wauregan Dam Rapid above the Wauregen Road Bridge. The waves at the top right were big, but I stayed right anyway. We got a few pictures, but the video of Paul's run didn't come out.

The trip took us about 2 hours. Fun run, and I also got to pick Mike's brain on the Moosup River.

The crew - Erik, Mike, Paul

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Day-after-Christmas Paddle - Quinebaug - Danielson to Plainfield - December 26, 2022

At the put-in

It was just me and Paul for my last trip of the year - a day-after-Christmas trip on the Quinebaug. We ran the 5-mile section from Danielson to Plainville. We usually go another 5-miles down to Canterbury, but with the cold temperatures we decided to cut the run short. 

I met Paul at noon at Wayne R. LaFreniere Memorial Field (39 Wauregan Road, Danielson) for the shuttle down to the Fish Hatchery (145 Trout Hatchery Road, Plainfield). The temperature was 30° when we launched and icicles lined the banks, but the river was at great level - 5.8 feet, 2,000 cfs.

Running the broken Dyer Dam

The river starts off with quickwater until you hit the first rapid - the broken Dyer Dam about 2-miles downstream. There is rebar on river right, so the best line is center, or to the left. More quickwater follows until 5-miles downstream when you hit the broken Wauregan Dam Rapid at the Wauregen Road Bridge. The waves at the top right were huge, but the line just left of center was easy.  

The trip took up about 1.5 hours. By the time we got to the fish hatchery I was cold and my knee was sore. I was glad that we didn’t have to paddle the rest of the way down to Canterbury. Thanks to Paul for a warm-up cup of coffee at Dunkin' on the shuttle back.

Running the Wauregen Dam Rapid

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