Covington, Virginia, US

Rappahannock School (Route 622) to Rush River

VW Rapid Covington

VW Rapid Covington
Photo taken Hurricnaes of 04

Gauge Information

River Description

This is a a great little creek with multiple 2' to 3' ledge drops and a lot of rock gardens, it is very tight so be prepared to make tiny eddies to boat scout.

1' to 3' are great levels. 3' is pushy on such a small creek with constant strainer possibilities.  About 300 yards above the take out there is a great surf hole.

Virginia Whitewater, Roger Corbett or Classic Virginia Rivers, Ed Grove

The Rock Mills takeout can also be used for whitewater sections of the Rush and Thornton. The Thornton requires substantially less water than the Rush.

Ed Evangelidi testifies:
This creek is also runnable well above US 211. There is a nasty cattle fence under the Rte. 622 bridge, so most like to put in here. Note a painted gauge here. Most want about 3” to avoid painting too many rocks going downstream. The major rapid is a narrow tweeze between boat length rocks. The upstream rock on the left blocks a straight shot through the rapid, the downstream rock on the right forces you to turn left just above it and another rock just downstream and to the left requires an immediate downstream turn around the rightmost rock. This is a hard Class-3 move for short boats and a Houdini move for large tandem boats. Very easy to pin here. At high water there is a Class-2 sneak on the right that can also be used as a portage route in low water. The rest of the run is a mix of Class-2 rapids. If the creek is a little too low, try the nearby Thornton River.