Black,

5. Route 3 Wave

Route 3 Wave

Route 3 Wave
Photo of Kathy Rombach, Sharon Heller, Bubba and DJ O'Neill

Gauge Information

River Description

Update as of 7/12/07: This playspot is back!

Sort of.

According to a recent comment (click the "Comments" tab), a rock got dislodged and took away the wave on or before 6/21/08.

However, on July 12, locals removed the rock during the annual Black River Cleanup. Read about it here.

A post on the Northeast Paddlers' Massage Board says that there's still some rock-activated diversion, which means that the water's faster than before and the wave is accessible only from the river-right eddy. But...The Wave is Baaaaaaaack.

We'll keep you updated.

This is a popular after-work park-n-playspot for locals who don't have time to run the whole Black. The other great p-n-p is just below the putin on the main Black, at Hole Brothers.

This is also the site of a controversial proposal to alter the riverbed in order to provide a hole/wave that'll be attractive to high-level playdogs and international competitions. Some paddlers are concerned that messing with the riverbed might ruin a good thing; others believe that improving the playspot will give a jumpstart to efforts to improve water quality all over this historically abused, urbanized stream.

There are two putins to this p-n-p (the coordinates for which are listed below, as the putin and takeout): either park at Waterworks Park on Huntington St., hike down a longish trail and paddle upstream to the wave, or park off Rte. 3 (off Huntington St., just South of where Rte. 3 crosses the river), walk across the rocky dam runout and paddle downstream a short bit to your play. (See the map.)