Saco River Conway Rips 2019

With the spring runoff and rains of May giving way to the drier early summer weather of June, an expedition to the mountain-fed Saco seemed reasonable. (Mt. Washington, whose western slopes are drained by the upper Saco, had an especially deep snowpack this year allowing us to catch some late-spring paddling after other mountain streams had started to dry up.) I had glimpsed the last “rapid” on this section of the Saco many times while crossing the US Route 302 bridge heading up toward North Conway and Pinkham Notch. According to my recollections, this rapid usually looks like a dry boulder garden by mid-summer, but seemed like it might provide some fun-but-mellow springtime paddling. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we found!

This would be the second voyage for Jarrod’s and my new inflatable kayaks, mine being the NRS Outlaw which is analogous to the Star Raven (NRS recently acquired the Star brand). These are your basic, entry-level (but still very well constructed) whitewater IKs with PVC tubes and a rigid inflatable floor. They can handle class III water well, and probably IV to IV+ in the right hands. Those hands, for better or worse, are not ours at this moment in time. The chief utility of an IK for my current skillset/purposes is running class I-II+ streams after they’ve become too bony for a canoe. After all, dragging a 25 lb. IK through the shallows and/or portaging are much easier (and less abusive to the boat) than doing the same in a canoe. After two trips out, they seem like the ultimate river-scouting machines.

After a big brunch in Portland to make sure we were adventure-ready, we headed up to Conway, stopping along the way to check out Limington Rips from the ME Route 25 bridge. The Saco was running at about 3,700cfs in Cornish (the location of the nearest USGS gage) and the half-mile-long run looked like a really fun class II/III at this water level. I had run it at slightly lower levels with a buddy a few years prior in an open canoe; it was a fun-and-uneventful class II as we skirted all the major obstacles. Speaking of obstacles, the hole they apparently call Prom Date looked super burly/dangerous at the current level. It’s on river-left below the bridge and maybe 6-8 yards wide with a straight-across morphology—definitely not a “smiling” hole. The water upstream of the hole forms a bit of a pillow that pushes most of the flow to either side, making a last-minute dodge perhaps a bit easier. But if we had run Limington Rips on this day, we would have made sure to stay well river right below the bridge to avoid an encounter with Prom Date (even if it does happen to be prom season). The smooth ledges on river right are a popular sunning spot in the summer, as well as a convenient take-out for those wishing to run the rapid over and over. With a shuttle car parked at the state picnic area, it would be possible to get in many runs over the course of a day.

But our main goal was checking out the Saco through Center Conway, so we proceeded north through some very scenic back roads that spit us out on US 302 just north of Conway Lake. Though we ultimately needed to go west, nature called and we headed east on 302 into Fryeburg to make use of the bathrooms at the Maine welcome center—a nice, clean last-minute bathroom option when heading up into the Whites. On our way back through Conway we dropped our bikes at the take-out (follow US 302 West across the Saco, then right and another immediate right which takes you behind the Conway Police Department and down to the river on Meeting House Hill Road). River access on the left bank of the Saco is very straightforward here, and there is ample parking, some picnic tables, and an open mowed area. Driving through town to the put-in we made the decision to head up ‘The Kanc’ (NH 112 or Kancamagus Highway), meandering up the valley of the Swift River into the White Mountain National Forrest. Perhaps we could put in a bit farther upstream and paddle the section of the Swift from Albany Covered Bridge to the confluence with the Saco (reportedly class I-III). Although the drive was scenic, the river looked un-runnably bony. Apparently, the stretch of the Swift above Albany Covered Bridge is renowned throughout New England for some pretty intense springtime creek boating. We got off the Kanc, crossed the covered bridge, and looped back into Conway on the north/east side of the river following Passaconway Road—essentially a car-sized tunnel through the foliage. About six miles later it spit us out on West Side Rd which we followed south another mile or so to where it crosses the Swift just above the confluence with the Saco. A small road on the left (Chatague Lane) immediately before the bridge brought us down to a wide gravel shoulder where we parked on the right side of the road. Here we found a convenient, gravelly river-left put-in directly underneath the bridge.

Due to our dillydallying, it was getting on toward early evening by the time we put on the river. Fortunately, late starts are much less of a problem in June than October, and we would have more than enough daylight to explore this short section of the river. The put-in was extraordinarily pleasant, with the Swift typifying a small New England mountain stream: gentle gravel bars extended into the river upstream; downstream, a dense foliage canopy, covered bridge, good current, and medium-sized boulders. The .2 miles down to the confluence of the Saco was a pleasant, narrow class II boulder dodge with pretty obvious lines and only minor maneuvering required.

Things opened up quite a bit when we reached the much-larger Saco. At these levels there are some easily negotiable riffles underneath the covered bridge at the confluence. (East Side Road goes over this bridge and provides river-left access for those who wish to skip the small section of the Swift and get directly on the Saco). Just downstream is a (non-covered) bridge, over which the White Mountain Highway heads north into North Conway. Below this are some more class I/II mini-rapids with many good opportunities for “surfing” the ducky. While surfing one of the small holes, I glanced at the rock forming the hole and noticed a leg-sized crack running down the middle—a good reminder that even though this section of river is pretty mellow, keeping feet up in the case of a swim would (as always) be prudent.

The mix of flat water and class I+ riffles continued for another half mile (about a mile from the beginning of the run) to a small horizon line, the beginning of what is known as “Powerline Rapid.” You will find that it is aptly, if not creatively, named. We pulled over in a river-right eddy to scout and slogged through the weeds, mud and boulders twenty or thirty yards downstream. The vegetation had that matted-down appearance indicating much higher water levels that had only recently receded. This spot certainly seemed more deserving of the classification of a “rapid” compared to the more minor riffles upstream. One slightly bigger (maybe 6-7 feet wide) hole was situated river-center but looked punch-able; lots of exposed boulders along the left bank, likely covered in higher water; potentially sneaky rocks/holes along river right that might upset an unsuspecting ducky; a small wave train on center-right to finish the rapid. We got back in the inflatables and Jarrod led off, staying center-right all the way down. I went slightly to the left of the hole at the top then cut back right for the wave train at the bottom. Two takeaways: a) at this level, the rocks that I feared might get the duckies hung up were just covered enough to not cause any major problems; b) the wave train at the bottom is really fun and provided two-and-a-half-ish foot waves to crash through as the rapid empties into a calm pool. I imagine that these are more significant in higher water as long as the rapid doesn’t get washed out.

The next (just under a) mile was a pleasant flatwater/quickwater float. We saw an eagle or two, and remarked how happy we were to have inflatable kayaks and not a canoe as we scratched our way across a gravelly section where the river widens and shallows out. Eventually we heard the unmistakable sound of water accelerating downhill and knew we were at the rapid just upstream of US 302. We did a mini-scout from river right, then read and ran the rest of the rapid. It has a smaller feel than powerline rapid, but more small boulders and mini-holes around which to meander at this water level. It was good fun practicing catching eddies, ferrying, and doing minor ducky surfs. There were a few ledge holes or river right that I chose to avoid, and some chaotic currents on river left. But once again, at these levels nothing was too pushy—just a fun “read and run” class II that’s about .25 miles long and takes you all the way down to the 302 bridge. After the bridge, it’s just under a half mile of boulder-y quickwater to the river-left takeout. The run had taken about an hour and a half at a leisurely pace.

The mosquitoes drove us onto our bikes pretty quickly and the ride back to the put-in by the covered bridge over the Swift was very straightforward. We were really happy to have checked out this stretch of the Saco. Although it is by no means a wilderness setting, a lot of this section provides the illusion thereof. What doesn’t appear to be wild instead fits the bucolic New England countryside stereotype (covered bridges, riverside cottages, etc.). Coupled with super easy access and water levels that are boat-able into late spring (and likely after sustained rain events in the mountains), it’s a good, quick run to have in your back pocket when the water’s too low elsewhere and you’re not hitting a weekend dam release. The only sections that would have been any trouble for the canoe might have been the tiny section of the Swift (narrow maneuvering between boulders) and the middle, shallow gravelly section after Power Line rapid. At slightly higher levels, it seems like it would be a great class II late spring canoe run