Paint, Michigan, US
|
|
Hemlock Rapids: Hemlock River to Bates Amasa Rd. (5.6 miles)
| Usual Difficulty |
I-III (for normal flows) |
| Avg. Gradient |
11 fpm |
| Max Gradient |
32 fpm |
Gauge Information
| Name |
Range |
Difficulty |
Updated |
Level |
|
|
|
- |
500 - 5000 cfs
|
I-III |
|
~
cfs
|
|
|
River Description
The access paddle down the Hemlock River has a good number of short rocky stretches. At high
water, a few of these may be mildly entertaining rapids. At low water, they will all be
(varyingly) boney, frustrating boulder fields to pick your way through, knuckle-walk your boat
through, or get out and drag/carry your boat through.
Very shortly after the last (and worst at low water) of the boulder-garden drops, you reach the
Paint River. Just downstream of the confluence, you'll encounter Hemlock Rapids (about 1/3 mile
long), a brief flatwater stretch (about 1/3 mile long), then Lower Hemlock Rapids (again, about
1/3 mile long). These two rapids contain some pretty fair action, and (at moderate-to-high
levels) could be a real hoot. A few spots could develop wicked holes.
Once that action subsides, you are left with about two miles of flatwater to the take-out. Note:
DeLormes and topo maps show a road extending upstream from 0.7 miles north of the listed
take-out, extending upstream all the way to the end of Lower Hemlock Rapids. Unfortunately, the
road and all property along it is privately held, making access via this means extremely unlikely
-- count on paddling the flatwater all the way to the listed bridge, where there is plenty of
parking and great easy access to the river.
As listed here, the suggested put-in is on the Hemlock River, and the take-out is at the bridge
on Bates-Amasa Road. Using this combination makes the shuttle as short and simple as can be --
just follow Bates-Amasa Road for 3.5 miles.
Alternative access points do exist, and may be advisable for low-to-moderate water-level runs to
avoid the grungy access on the Hemlock River. Specifically, it appears (I have not verified) one
should find reasonable access at a location marked on TopoZone as "Paint Dam
(Abandoned)". Total river miles are changed very little (you get about 1.8 miles of
flatwater on the Paint instead of about 2.1 miles of flatwater interspersed with very likely
grungy boulderbed rapids on the Hemlock River). This does, however, more than double the shuttle
length (to at least 8.5 miles).
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2009-09-09 02:07:42
No photos found. 
reach
User Comments
the reach as listed here. In concert with the low summer flow, that accounts for the duration of
their trip. The listed reach should not take anywhere near that length of time.
extremely low. We dropped in at the campgound off of FS-347 and ended at Bates-Amasa bridge
(CR-643). It took around 5 hours (aside from the rapids, we floated most of the way) but would be
much quicker at higher water. The two sections of Hemlock Rapids were a blast and in the Spring
would be great.