Flatwater Quaboag – September 5, 2020

Early morning mist on the water

I wanted to do something different that didn’t involve an up-and-back, so I decided to paddle the flatwater section of the Quaboag from West Brookfield to Warren – a 9-mile paddle, and a 7-mile bike shuttle.

I was up before the sun to load my boat and get on my way. I dropped off my boat at the Fishdale Road Boat Ramp in Brookfield at around 7:30 and was at the take-out at Lucy Stone Park in Warren before 8:00. There was a trashcan that was the perfect height for a selfie, so I snapped a picture before I left.  

View from the Fishdale Road Bridge

I took the slightly longer but flatter bike route up Route 67 to West Brookfield and then down Route 9 to Brookfield. This also takes you past the two pretty town commons. I clocked 11-milles per hour on the radar as I passed through West Brookfield.  

At about 4-miles I stopped to take a picture at the West Brookfield Town Common, and realized that I had forgotten my camera back at the take-out. I turned around to go back for it, but figured it was unlikely that it would still be there. Fortunately for me it was.

Quaboag Pond

It was now close to 9:00, so it was too late for me to do the bike shuttle again and still get home at a reasonable hour. I loaded my bike and drove back to the put-in in Brookfield. I decided to paddle up into Quaboag Pond and back.

The Quaboag River arises fully formed from its headwaters at the southern end of Quaboag Pond. The river is big and wide as it flows west and meanders through a large flood plain down to West Brookfield. In West Brookfield the river turns south and flows through the woods down to Lucy Stone Park - the put-in for the whitewater run down to Palmer. Eventually, the Quaboag joins the Ware River in Three Rivers to form the Chicopee River. 

Quaboag River

I paddled upstream and into Quaboag Pond. The pond is known for motorboat activity, but this morning there were just a couple of fishermen.  I paddled about half way up the pond before turning back around.

The river is a little too wide and a little too flat for my liking, but it would be nice for a fall foliage trip.

Boat ramp at the Fishdale Road Bridge

Links:

My Pictures

Back to the Bog – the Quaboag that is! February 16, 2019

Heading out

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2019 is to step up my whitewater paddling by getting on some more challenging rivers. One of those is definitely the Quaboag - about an hour away, it starts off with a class II warm-up, and then runs through a series of class III rapids.  The last time that I ran the Quaboag was in 2011. When Conrad posted a trip there, I was in.

We met at 10:00 at Lucy Stone Park (235 Old West Brookfield Road, Warren) for the shuttle down to the take out on Route 67 in Palmer (281 Boston Rd, Palmer). We had eight boats - two canoes (me and Brooke) and 6 kayaks.

Easy class II rapids

The first half of the trip is easy with a couple of miles of quickwater and class I/II rapids. The river was 4.4 feet, 475 cfs on the West Brimfield gage - a medium low level that is perfect for me in my open boat. The river is more technical at this level, and we did have to scrape over a few rocks (especially the last rapid at the bottom) and wiggle through a couple of strainers in calmer spots, but it doesn't have the big holes and waves that develop at higher levels.

The first class III rapid is Mouse Hole. There was a large old rotten tree blocking most of the usual line through right side. The log dammed up enough water so that we could run the left side, which is usually too boney at this level. I made it through the big drop, and was able to catch the eddy on river right to empty out my boat. 

One other open boat

Shortly after Mouse Hole is the Trestle Rapid. I went left under the trestle, and eddied out under the bridge behind some rocks along the center pier. I then pealed out into the main flow and caught the eddy behind the rocks on river right about half way down. From there, its an easy run through the rocks at the bottom.

After a few more class II rapids and some surfing at the play spot, we portaged the large dam. Just downstream is the broken dam that I ran left of center.  Below the broken dam is the Angel’s Field rapid – nothing difficult, just big waves. After the Angel’s Field we entered Devil's Gorge. The gorge has three distinct rapids. The first is the most difficult and terminates with a 3-foot drop known at the Quaboag Drop, which is run on the right. From there its waves and rock dodging down to the take out.  

Lined up at the play spot

Links:

My Pictures

Quaboag River Gage at West Brimfield

River Description from American Whitewater

Quaboag Videos

A couple of Quaboag videos from last weekend.  Level was about 4.2 feet, 400 cfs.

Brooke Sofferman from Saturday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-UKNmGDrmM&list=UUZ3yTI1qxRHG27n9NhA4ofQ&feature=share

Michael Bubulka from Sunday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tjSEKlqPqc&feature=share

Would like to run this again sometime.

I finally ran the Quaboag - April 30, 2011

Mouse Hole

For a couple of years now, I have wanted to run the Quaboag River in central MA. Its not far away – about an hour – and its suppose to be a fun class II/III run. Well, I finally ran it yesterday with a huge group from NPMB. There were 16 boats in all – 2 canoes, 14 kayaks.

The Quaboag flows west from Quaboag Pond in Brookfield to Three Rivers where it joins with the Ware River to form the Chicopee River. There's a nice flatwater section from the Quaboag Pond in Brookfield to Lucy Stone Park in Warren – about 9 miles. We did the section from Lucy Stone Park in Warren to Route 67 in Palmer – about 5 miles.

Trestle Rapid

The first half of the trip was uneventful with easy class I/II rapids. The level was about 4.5 feet, 500 cfs – a low but runnable level. At this level, the river is more technical, but I didn’t find it too bad – definitely easier than New Boston.

The first difficult rapid is Mouse Hole which I ran a little right of center, and did fine. Shortly after Mouse Hole is the Trestle Rapid. I caught the eddy under the trestle on the right side, backed into the eddy on river left, which set me up to catch the eddy in the middle of the rapid. From there, its and easy run through the rocks at the bottom.

The Broken Dam

After a few more class II+ rapids and a portage around a large dam, we ran a large broken dam. I ran it just left of center. Most of the yaks ran it a little further to the right and boofed of the rock at the bottom.

Below the broken Dam is the Angel’s Field Rapid – nothing difficult, just big waves. After the Angel’s Field Rapid we entered the Devils Gorge. The Gorge has three distinct rapids. The first is the most difficult and terminates with a 3-foot drop known at the Quaboag Drop which is run on the right. From there its an easy run to the take out.  For directions to the take out use 733 Boston Road, Palmer, MA.

The Quaboag Drop

Links:
Quaboag River Gage at West Brimfield
River Description from American Whitewater

Some notes on the Quaboag

I was hoping to run the Quaboag yesterday, but at 3.5’, it was too low and iced in. Here are some comments from Tommy:

I've run it at 3.75 and found it surprisingly fluid except for the last half mile along the road to the takeout. IMO it's a whole lot better between 4' and 5.5'.  If you go I recommend starting up at Lucy Stone Park in West Warren. It's class I - II down to the Mouse Hole, then good steady III pool and drop to the takeout.  One of these days I got to run from Quaboag pond down to Three Rivers. That would  be a LONG day.

Directions – From the Mass Pike take the Palmer exit and follow Route 20 east toward Sturbridge. Bear right under the overpass onto Route 67. Follow Route 67 northeast to the town of Warren. Take the first left after crossing the Quaboag River onto North River Road. Lucy Stone Park is on the left just before crossing the next bridge. This is the put-in for the class II section.

For the take-out of the class II section and the put-in for the class III section follow Route 67 southwest to a dirt pull-off a little ways before the traffic light in West Warren. You will see the river on your right all along Route 67 just watch for the second of two rest area pull-offs.

Links
River Description from American Whitewater
Quabog River at West Brimfield