Sign in to generate an AI timing estimate for this run.
Whitewater timing varies with scouting, portages, and group pace. Use as a planning baseline.
Description
This is, without doubt, the hardest run in the Patapsco basin. Suddenly, as Piney Run crosses Arrington Road and begins to follow Marriottsville Road No. 2, with just a mile and a third left to its life, it becomes a whitewater terror, dropping 60 feet in a third of a mile. Scout this section carefully from alongside the road before putting on, looking especially at the first quarter mile, down to the second gravel parking area. It accelerates quickly from class II to class II+, and then has a short class III drop followed by a complex class IV+ (probably best entered through the second chute from the left, and finished on the far left, but I have not seen anyone run it). Many paddlers will want to eddy out on the left above the main drop, for a brief portage, or even to skip the class III just above (as we did) to be on the safe side.
After the big drop come several more class III rapids in quick succession. The second of these is very tricky on the right side (down to the drop right next to the huge boulder on the bank), but may not have enough water to run the left side. Then the gradient eases up, to class II+, II and then I. There tend to be strainers above the confluence with the South Branch, by the intersection of Marriottsville Road and Marriottsville Road No. 2, so you might want to take out alongside the road higher up.