Owens Creek, Maryland, US

1) Lantz to Roddy Covered Bridge

Usual Difficulty	II-IV (for normal flows)
Length	5.3 Miles
Avg. Gradient	95 fpm
Max Gradient	190 fpm

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
CATOCTIN CREEK NEAR MIDDLETOWN, MD
usgs-01637500	500 - 3000 cfs	II-IV	01h02m	76 cfs (rc= -0.2 )

River Description

Put in 300 yards west of Lantz, by the church.

There's one class IV- in about a half mile, but otherwise it's class III- until the railroad bridge alongside Md 81, at 2.4 miles.
The next 0.4 miles, down to the roadside parking area used by many fishermen, is class IV.
From there to the Roddy covered bridge, below US 15, is class III+, with few strainers.

You can scout almost the entire run from the road.

Ed Evangelidi testifies:
The upper part of this run has a few wire strands across the creek that are not too noticeable but easy to negotiate. This is followed by a new private low water bridge that may cause problems. In the Class 4 section, consider that any strainer in this very fast water may cause grave bodily harm.

Robert Miller further testifies:
"The creek starts as Class 2 and builds from there. When you come upon a railroad bridge, the action is going to pick up fast. The creek steepens and goes down continuous rocky rapids, some of which come at you very fast and are pretty steep. Be on the lookout for trees! The good action continues for over a mile and has some really neat sections. At one point, the creek bumps into a rock cliff on the right with a small waterfall pouring off the cliff. It is a beautiful sight! As you approach the Rt. 550 bridge, the action starts to let up but remains continuous. This is a great run to combine with the other creeks in the area."