A 159 day old warning about this river was added. Click on comments below to read it.

Moose - 2. East St. Johnsbury to Passumpsic River


Moose, Vermont, US

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2. East St. Johnsbury to Passumpsic River (Lower)

Usual Difficulty II-IV (for normal flows)
Length 4 Miles

Gauge Information

Name Range Difficulty Updated Level
MOOSE RIVER AT VICTORY, VT
usgs-01134500 5.00 - 10.00 ft II-IV 00h59m 3.58 ft (rc= -0.3 )


River Description

Mike Baseler shared, via A.J. Seibel:

Dave Coyne and I ran the Lower Moose (East St. Johnsbury- Passumpsic river) at a level of 6 feet on the Victory gauge. The run is about 4 miles, the run starts off with a bang with a big wave train under the first (car bridge) with good surf. Right around the bend is the biggest drop on this section, so scout carefully on river left right after the first bridge. There is a sneak line to the left side of train bridge pillar, but it’s a little scrapy at 6’. The main line has a monster hole dead center that spans 80-90% of the river, not a place I would really like to be. Dave says it's a bit more tame at around 5 ft, (min suggested). The line of choice at this level was to start off in the eddy just above the bridge and boof the far left side and skirt the big hole directly under the bridge. The move was intimidating, but luckily no one got munched today.

After the railroad bridge there is about 2 miles of quick class I water until you hit the next section. The next rapid is a series of 3 ledges all about 3-4 feet high. Once you get to the ledges the run picks up and the rapids are close together.

Right around the next bend the river runs directly into the Maple Grove Farm factory and makes a definitive S-turn under another bridge. Once you get behind Maple Grove there is a fun class III, that consists of a big bouncy wave train, run right down the middle, watch for wood on the left side. From there to the next significant drop is pretty straight forward class II+.

Once you go under Rte. 2 again the river makes a definitive sharp left turn. Be careful here. The next drop is a big rocky ledge about 8 feet tall, the biggest single drop on the river. Stay left and scout. A cliff that juts out blocks your vision and if you miss the eddy right behind the rock you are committed to the drop. There is a simple line far left side if you follow the green tongue of water along the left bank. After this there are 2 more little ledges before you hit the confluence of the Passumpsic.

This is a really fun section, I think I would prefer it to the upper section from Victory down. Overall I would rate this as a class II-IV run to be in agreement with the guide book. Once you get down by the mills, past Maple Grove, there's unfortunately a lot of dumping that has been done and the river banks are riddled with tires and metal pieces.

The river runs directly along Rte. 2 the entire way, so there's lots of opportunity for road scouting.
To get to the takeout, take Concord Ave. across the bridge.
Make a left onto Elm St. and park back near the baseball fields.

To get to the putin, take Rte. 2 east for about 4 miles until you see a gravel pull off just past East St. Johnsubury on the right side of the road. If you want to skip the first big drop and the quickwater section, you can park and put in at Petty Co. Junction off of Rte. 2.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: unknown

Bottom half of the railroad drop

Detail Trip Report  Bottom half of the railroad drop  Moose River , VT(1.54MB .jpeg)

Put in wave

Detail Trip Report  Put in wave  Moose River , VT(1.62MB .jpeg)

Top drop of the Railroad Bridge

Detail Trip Report  Top drop of the Railroad Bridge   Moose River , VT(1.92MB .jpeg)


Gauge Information

We have no additional information about how various flows affect runnability (or playability) of this section of river. If you can provide additional information, please either directly contact the StreamTeam member for this reach, or add a 'comment' or a 'report' with your information to help out your fellow boaters.

Gauge Information

Name Range Difficulty Updated Level
MOOSE RIVER AT VICTORY, VT
usgs-01134500 5.00 - 10.00 ft II-IV 00h59m 3.58 ft (rc= -0.3 )

RangeWater LevelDifficultyComment
5.00 -10.00 ft barely runnable-high runnable II-IV Upper limit for best boatability uncertain. Please help your fellow boaters with a comment or report.

Report - Reports of Moose 2. East St. Johnsbury to Passumpsic River and related gauges

Reports give the public a chance to report on river conditions throughout the country as well as log the history of a river.

Reports

When River/Gauge Subject Level Reporter
3y304d07h58m Moose River [VT] Bottom half of the railroad drop 8 ft Michael Baseler

WXPort

News





User Comments
2011-09-05 01:52:39 (159 days ago)
Mark LacroixDetails
On August 28th, 2011 Hurricane Irene struck New England. The resulting floods caused extensive
damage throughout the region, the worst in over 100 years. More than half the rivers in Vermont and
northern New Hampshire recorded their highest flow levels ever. Many roads, guardrails, power
lines, bridges, trees and other debris now litter several rivers throughout the region. River beds
have been scoured and changed course, many new strainers make navigation problematic at best and
downright dangerous at worse. Please realize that the river description you see here may not match
current situation after the floods. Use common sense and when in doubt scout especially on blind
drops. Also, if you run this river in the next year or so please comment on its navigability, even
if there are no problems this will be very helpful. Please report any new strainers or changes to
the rapids that will impact future boating. Thank you,
2011-04-25 01:19:34 (292 days ago)
jsorochak (153004)
A friend and I hit this last Fall when Joe's was too high. I would guess it was a bit over 10.00.
The top was fun with some big surf, but everything from the factory down was scary as hell with
almost now eddies to check your pace downriver. You don't want anything to do with the falls at
this level. I would say 9.5 may be the upper level.
Users can submit comments.

Rapid Descriptions

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 2. East St. Johnsbury to Passumpsic River, Moose Vermont, US (mobile)