The lower Blackwater is a mid-atlantic classic class IV-V run. Expect some challenging rapids in a remote setting with beautiful scenery. Put-in parking is 2 miles downstream along the North Fork from Thomas past the town of Coketon. Park here, walk 3/4 mi on rail-trail past North Fork Falls. Hike to the put-in down an extremely steep goat trail just below the confluence of the
Upper Blackwater and
North Fork. At lower flows there are inconvenient rocks in almost every rapid. At higher flows, there are several places where a boof will make the day go more smoothly.
\- The rapids begin immediately at the putin, so take a breather after the long carry in before launching. The first few rapids are nice technical boulder drops. Then you come to Krakatoa.
\- Krakatoa is a sloping ledge into a mean hole followed by a second ledge. Scout this on the left. At lower flows the first ledge can be run left/center with left angle and the second can be boofed off a center shelf. At higher flows, the first ledge hole is harder to clear and the hole feeds undercuts on either side.
\- Boof or Consequences (a.k.a. The Ledge or The Boof). This is not far downstream of Krakatoa. Most of the river is constricted over a 5-foot-ish ledge in the center of the river. Scout this as well. Boof the right corner into a right eddy. The pourover created in this drop literally spits sprays of water from the hole.
\- Rock & Roll. This follows after some boat-scoutable drops. It is easy to scout this on the right by taking out just above the congested and blind entrance. There is a lot going on in this rapid and it's steeper than it looks, but there's more than one way to approach it. The rocks at the constriction at the bottom are undercut.
\- The Slide. On down the river there is a long low-angle slide that goes on for a couple hundred feet with flow that shifts from left to right. Be sure to skirt the big hole at the bottom.
\- The Waterfall. Midway through the run there's a 12-or-so-foot sloping waterfall with numerous lines and numerous junky spots. The left and center area seems to be easiest to navigate. There's vertical far right line where the flow lands on a rock shelf.
There's plenty of Class IV fun in between the descriptions above.
\- Paddle out. There is roughly a 2 mile paddle-out from the core whitewater gorge.
Takeout at the AW takeout on the right side of the
Black Fork just downstream of the confluence of the Blackwater and
Dry Fork in Hendricks.
From the top, gradient by mile is:
144
127
90
101
71
121
50
Keel Hauler Rating - 32