Esopus Creek, New York, US |
|
| Usual Difficulty | II+ (for normal flows) |
|---|---|
| Length | 5.5 Miles |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESOPUS CREEK AT COLDBROOK NY | ||||
| usgs-01362500 | 5.00 - 8.00 ft | II+ | 00h40m | 4.55 ft (rc= -0.2 ) |
Strainer Warning!
"pgw," on the Northeast Paddlers' Message Board, related in part, on 7/16/01:
"We paddled the Esopus Sat, July 14 with its scheduled water release and noted a large pine
tree strainer on river left appr'x 100 yards above the Woodland Valley Road Bridge (which is just
above the slalom course at the old 'RailRoad Rapid'), Phoenicia, NY. The strainer extends fully
across the river channel from left to right. We noted this before driving up to the Portal at
Allaben where we put in.
Someone posted a large wooden sign with RED letters on river right, 'Danger, do not go left, get
out here'."
He went on to describe a close call with a tuber who unaccountably failed to heed the sign.
Careful out there!
See ab257's Esopus Creek page.
[Ed note: This reach was originally the entire 17 mile upper section of the Esopus, overlapping the other reaches on the AW site. The sections have all been renumbered and this section re-purposed to better match the descriptions in the guidebooks Northeastern Whitewater Guide (Bruce Lessels) and New York Exposed: The Whitewater State (Dennis Squires)--5/16/10]
No photos found. See the release schedule at the comprehensive KCCNY Release Schedule page.
For 2009, the releases are scheduled (subject to sufficient water levels) for:
Apr 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30
May 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 28, 29
Sat/Sun, Jun 6, 7
| Apr 1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | May 1 |
2 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
29 | 30 |
| 31 | Jun 1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| Name | Range | Difficulty | Updated | Level | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESOPUS CREEK AT COLDBROOK NY | ||||||||||||
| usgs-01362500 | 5.00 - 8.00 ft | II+ | 00h40m | 4.55 ft (rc= -0.2 ) | ||||||||
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No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
reach
state
reachlink
3) Phoenicia to Boiceville, Esopus Creek New York, US (mobile)
User Comments
guage, this was a nice level with plenty of room to maneuver and lots of good sized waves and
holes. There was a river-wide strainer, just a short distance downstream from the Portal. It is
fairly obvious, and it was easy to get out in time to carry around it. However, shortly after
Elmer's Turn, right at The Sleepy Hollow Campground, there was a large (oak?) tree. This very
dangerous strainer can be seen from well upstream, but if you get too close to it on river right,
you will have no chance to avoid it! The tree extends from the right bank to nearly all the way
across. Plan to pass it as far left as possible if there is enough water, otherwise you will have
to walk around it on river left. [Note: Comment copied from comment in upper river section by
Streamkeeper since comment applies to both sections.]
enough to paddle the section above the portal. A much better reference is the guage at Allaben, a
bit upstream of the portal: http://tinyurl.com/2p9by7 I'd guess that about 400 is minimum, and I've
paddled from Big Indian at about 1000cfs on the Allaben guage. At that level it's mostly fast and
continuous, but not technically difficult. Figure class 2 to 3 waves and current, but not much
manuevering required to miss rocks or holes. As of late 2007 there are two river-wide strainers
that are mandatory portages. They can both be seen from county route 47, a bit west of state route
42. One is just downstream of the upstream fishing access, and the other is a bit further upstream.
Still further upstream, and just below the bridge on Fire House Rd there's a blind drop of 3 or 4
feet that should be scouted. Unless all the water is coming from the headwaters, 1000 cfs at
Allaben will probably mean 2500 cfs or more on the Cold Brook guage. That will make the rest of the
run fast and pushy, but for the most part it doesn't get more difficult. Edit