Octoraro Creek - New Bridge Road to Richardsmere


Octoraro Creek, Maryland, US

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New Bridge Road to Richardsmere (Lower Octoraro)

Usual Difficulty II (for normal flows)
Length 6 Miles
Avg. Gradient 15 fpm
Max Gradient 30 fpm

New River Ranch Falls


New River Ranch Falls
Photo of Falls by Walt Shank taken 07/13/01 @ Loowwwwww!

Gauge Information

Name Range Difficulty Updated Level
Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford, PA
usgs-01481000 2.40 - 10.00 ft II 04h15m 2.79 ft (rc= 0.1 )


River Description

Nice little section with some trashy and scenic surroundings. This is a kind of a forgotten corner of MD, but it's worth visiting and the river is worth running. It's kind of like the Brandywine without any dams.

The first 3 miles are pretty mellow, but things start to get going after the Rt. 1 bridge. Fun Class II rapids result as the Octoraro (which is Native American for "rushing waters") drops down to the Conowingo. Take out on a small side road before the Rt. 222 bridge in the historic mill town of Richardsmere.

The Upper Octoraro is categorized as a Pennsylvania stream.
StreamTeam Status: Verified
Last Updated: 2002-01-20 06:17:18

New River Ranch Falls

Detail Trip Report  New River Ranch Falls  Octoraro Creek, MD(38.71KB .jpeg)


Gauge Information

Gauge Description:

This gauge is located in a different watershed 15 miles to the east but both rivers are similar.

Gauge Information

Name Range Difficulty Updated Level
Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford, PA
usgs-01481000 2.40 - 10.00 ft II 04h15m 2.79 ft (rc= 0.1 )

RangeWater LevelDifficultyComment
2.40 -10.00 ft barely runnable-high runnable II

Report - Reports of Octoraro Creek New Bridge Road to Richardsmere 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
> 10 years Octoraro Creek [MD] New River Ranch Falls Loowwwwww! Walt Shank

WXPort

News





User Comments


2012-01-26 03:08:43 (15 days ago)
vDKcN0 <a href="http://thowtfivusje.com/">thowtfivusje</a>,
[url=http://kweoqbibcokz.com/]kweoqbibcokz[/url],
[link=http://eclotsmeipxc.com/]eclotsmeipxc[/link], http://oyevjnvgkpul.com/ Edit

2011-08-21 10:56:21 (173 days ago)
walrajr1 (153038)
Could someone please explain why the gauge used for this run is "Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford,
PA." I looked on Google earth but never found a any connection to the Octoraro Creek. There is a
gauge found on the USGS site for Octoraro Creek:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/md/nwis/uv/site_no=01578475&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62619,62620,00062,00054
Shouldn't we use this one instead since it is on Octoraro Creek?

2009-06-07 09:06:02 (978 days ago)
Ran this stream on April 17, 2009, gauge at 3.0, a little low, but not terrible as my group are
novices and this made for a great training run. The description is accurate, the most fun is in the
small gorge section below the Rte. 1 bridge which had just enough water in it that day. I figure
that about 3.3 on the gauge and up will please most paddlers. LK Edit

2008-07-29 10:09:54 (1291 days ago)
usgs has a station on (octoraro: #01578475) new bridge road. there has been a lot of vandalism at
this site. if you see vandalism in progress or damage to our gage please call usgs@ 717-730-6987
thanks Edit

2007-05-17 12:25:12 (1730 days ago)
Daniel CampbellDetails
The New River Ranch Dam was removed in 2005. The following article talks about the removal and has
pictures: http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=2652. The Dam got it's name from the "New
River Ranch" country music park on the east side of the river just north of the dam. It was open
through the 1950's and early 60's. If you are curious some good info on the park is at this link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1280910

2004-09-27 21:01:56 (2692 days ago)
tom reschDetails
can anyone give me some info on this creek please
Users can submit comments.

Rapid Descriptions

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 New Bridge Road to Richardsmere, Octoraro Creek Maryland, US (mobile)