Maury, Virginia, US
|
|
Rockbridge Baths to James River
| Usual Difficulty |
II(III) (for normal flows) |
| Length |
32 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient |
15 fpm |
| Max Gradient |
30 fpm |
Lower Maury
Lower MauryPhoto by S.King
Gauge Information
River Description
Rockbridge Baths section to Bridge.
Putin: Behind Rockbridge store on Rt. 39.
Takeout: Copper Road off Rt. 39
Beautiful run with many 2-3 rapids. You can take out about 2 miles downstream under the
bridge..There are a bunch of no trespassing signs there but there is also a sign that says 'canoe
portage only' , so I'd say its OK. That couple miles consist of class 1-2 water.
Buena Vista to James Confluence
Putin: Glen Maury Park off Rt. 39
Takeout: Locher Landing off Rt. 39 across from BP in Glasgow
Fun run at 3 ft and above on above gauge. Runnable at 2.6 but gets very boney at 2.4. Good run is
from Buena Vista to the bottom of the Balcony run on the James, but the gauge on the Maury needs to
be at 3+ to get to the James that fast, a 16 mile paddle. Confluence Rapid at the James/Maury is
considered a III. Very rocky drop, run river right.<p>
Ed Evangelidi testifies:<br>
The rapid at the confluence with the James can be run/played in by itself without having to run the
whole river.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2004-04-24 20:13:24
Editors
No rapids entered. If you know names, and locations of the rapids please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
User Comments
Baths, so it would be safe to assume a level of 9-10 feet here. We put in underneath the Route 11
bridge and floated 4 miles down to where the South River enters the Maury. This took approximately
1 hr (including getting out to scout the broken dam/lock @ mile 3). Excellent run. We decided to
run river right and went around the right side of the old dam. After going through and looking at
the left side, we figured it was possible, but most likely sticky (maybe next time) Overall smooth
run, no major holes at 9 ft, just lots of fast moving water. The random currents would occasionally
shake the boat, but not so much as to grab and edge of the kayak.
of the rapid that is a couple miles below put in...one of the better ones about 50 yards long after
a left gravelbar turn into the right turn intrance...its just upstream of the mudslide that
happened with same storm in the curve on 39 that has new guardrail etc.(road was closed and crews
pouring new concrete wall) and can be seen if you drive slow enough on shuttle now, i didn't see it
until i got there and a hard river right paddle will get you around it even though you now miss the
best part Edit
last year and after a reverse flip he came out with a 90 degree paddle! (we know call it marks
hole:) but its wave train city the whole way no rocks.... Edit
at 5 feet. The river is pretty intense at this level with lots of waves! Be prepared to constantly
bail. Two big holes are worth mentioning, one forms just downstream of the putin. We punched it
perfectly but it still completely swamped the boat. The other hole is somewhere around mile 5 or
so, and there's a small slot in the center to avoid swamping. Use caution at this level. Edit
lower maury. ran it at 1.9 last year and there are lots of "lava" rock in the river that test boat
toughness. ran it again on mem.day at 2.2 and the couple extra inches let you run the class 2plus
rapid on the left side of the first island you come to. also agree with the previous comment about
the no tresspass/conoe portage only signs at takeout parking. i actually talked to the guy that
lives there while he was tubeing with some friends and he was very nice. plus i noticed a kayak
laying in the yard when we took out so he's definetly boater friendly...warning i did see broken
window glass at the parking area not sure if someone forgot keys or there was a breakin, i didn't
leave anything worth stealin in my car) this section is 8 miles ..copper road is full of no
tresspass/parking signs so dont try to shorten the trip, lots of big smallies here! these levels
are the rockbridge baths guage; not the beauna vista one.