Slatersville - August 20, 2025

I had a nice night with the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club at the Slatersville Reservoir. I paddled tandem with Cheryl. We put in at the State Boat Ramp and paddled up the Branch River until it got too shallow.

Slatersville - June 27, 2020

Upper Dam

I needed to stay local today, so I decided to paddle at the Slatersville Reservoir. This reservoir was originally the power source for the Slatersville Mill Village just downstream. The first dam was built on this site around 1807. Eventually, three dams were built to contain the 140-acre reservoir that delivered water to the mills.

I arrived at 8:30, and the parking lot was already filled with trucks and boat trailers.  There were lots of power boats on the upper reservoir, so I decided to portage around the upper dam and paddle the lower reservoir.  Its small, but still pretty.  On the way home I stopped in Slatersville to check out the middle and lower dams.

Slatersville Mills from under the Stone Arch Bridge

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Slatersville Reservoir - July 2, 2019

Had a nice night with the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club at the Slatersville Reservoir. We put in at the State Boat Ramp off Route 102, and paddled up the Branch River to the Route 7 Bridge. 

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Slatersville Reservoir from RI Blueways

Slatersville Reservoir - December 2, 2017

It has been a while since I have had my Wildfire out, so I decided to stay local and paddle the Slatersville Reservoir with the RICKA crew.  The day was cloudy, but otherwise not bad.  We didn’t make it far up the Branch River due to a river-wide strainer, so we just paddled around the reservoir instead.  Nice trip.

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My Pictures
Slatersville Reservoir from RI Blueways

Slatersville Reservoir - August 16, 2011

Had a nice night with the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club at the Slatersville Reservoir.

This reservoir was originally the power source for the Slatersville Mill Village just downstream. The first dam was built on this site around 1807. Eventually, a complex system of three dams was built to contain the 140-acre Slatersville Reservoir.

We put in at the state boat ramp off Route 102 and paddled to the southwest end of the reservoir. While there are houses on the east side of the reservoir, the west side is largely wooded with tall spruce trees – it looks like we could be in Maine. With all the recent rain, we were able to paddle up the Branch River as far as the Route 7 bridge.

Looking back in my old pictures, I remembered that this was the first trip that I did with the Rhode Island Canoe & Kayak Association back in 2004 with my daughter Julie. Thanks to Cheryl for snapping this picture.

Paddling on the Slatersville Reservoir in 2004 with my daughter Julie

Links
Slatersville from Woonsocket.org
Cheryl's pictures

Branch River - Forestdale to Slatersville - July 2, 2011

I decided to try something different this morning, so I headed over the Branch River to paddle the section from Forestdale to Slatersville.

1826 Slatersville Mill

I wasn’t sure where to put-in, but as I drove up School Street in Forestdale I saw two guys carrying a boat down the river at the old Forestdale Mill site, so I put-in there. The Forestdale Pond was dotted with white, pink and purple water lilies. Once I got past Village Haven, the river was too shallow (2 ft., 42 cfs) to paddle, so I hiked up the river to Slatersville. I should have brought my poling boat. Across from Village haven would be a good place to put-in for poling.

The Village of Slatersville was established in 1803 and became the model for industrial development in the Blackstone River Valley.  Unfortunately, you can’t see much of the village from the river.  There are some nice views of the 1826 Mill, the Providence Pike Bridge and the Lower Dam.  The short section from Slatersville to Village Haven would be a fun section to paddle in higher water.


Branch River from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Slatersville from woonsocket.org