Narragansett Canoe & Kayak

Trip Reports 2002

Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - Upper Pawtucket - Flatwater -

6:00 pm is best for evening paddling.

Put in: Hope Furnace Road, off Rt. 116 in Village of Hope, in Scituate (at border between Scituate and Coventry).

Upon entering the river - turn left and then left around the next bend, when you come to the next intersection, go left toward what appears to be a clustered neighborhood on the water (the houses are on the left). After that stay right. You will eventually come to an abandoned camp with "KEEP OUT" signs, keep going...to the Dam. Close to the dam, there's one more fork, if you go the wrong way, it's short, so just turn around and go the other way and you'll see the dam in no time. We started out under overcast skies, but they soon cleared up and the trip proved to be worth the risk of rain. Mountain Laurel in full bloom cascaded like flowering waterfalls from both sides of the river. June must be time for baby ducks as there were various sized families, with some babies as small as those little yellow marshmallow ducks at Easter. The water was low due to drought, but we only ran aground twice. Once at the very small passage that's only a bit larger than 3 feet wide due to a fallen tree, and once further up close to the (at the last fork in the river) dam. Since the water at both spots was only a few inches deep, we got out, towed our boats 10 feet to deeper water and continued on to the dam (trick to get through the narrow passage, stay to left going out and stay to right coming back. Use the dead tree to pull yourself as you can't paddle there. It's only a 4 foot stretch to get through and it's worth the trouble. There was a periodic low lying mist on the water that compelled us to keep going. It was like the Twilight Zone drawing us in, and we didn't have the power to resist. The Twilight Zone must be Paradise because we certainly lost track of time. We may have lost track of time, but we will remember this trip fondly. Level: We had someone who had never kayaked before and she did fine - you can do it too!

Recommended boat type: Plastic Keowee to 14 footers - true sea/touring kayaks may not like the turns, but otherwise, OK. Kevlar and Fiberglass boats shouldn't go in drought conditions - bad for the paint.

Submitted by Linda M. Pease