Hopper Rd, Rt. 43 to Hoosic River

The Green River is a classic low gradient, low volume, class II-III river that runs off the Berkshires, including Mt. Greylock. It contains 3 definable class IIIs, all short, and lots of old mill drops. There are a few strainers here or there, so keep watch. It is mostly very chill, fast-moving, class I-II, interspersed with some short drops. The most commonly used put-in is at the bridge for Hopper Rd, at "Hopper Dropper" the first class III (II+ at low flows). There is a parking lot on river right after you cross the bridge off 43. You can put in higher up, at various locations in Mt. Hope Park, but parking is trickier, and there are no substantial rapids. If you put in at the parking lot on Hopper Rd., gear up and then walk across the road along the path on river right (walking upstream). Put in anywhere here. From the Hopper Dropper the river is primarily class I until the river takes a hard left and there is a tall smokestack. This is Old Mill (class III, which appears as a substantial horizon line). This is an old mill, so be careful and scout from river left. The general line is river center working river right. Be respectful of the condominium owners here. Immediately after the Old Mill is the 3rd class III, Accelerator, and perhaps the most fun. A short bedrock slide, that ends in a flushy hole. Run river left to center. At lower flows, you'll feel the bumps on the hull of your boat. Below this rapid is a fun surfing hole, that becomes moderately retentive at flows greater than 350 cfs. The rest of the river from here until the the Route 2 bridge is class II, with another mill drop or two. Be careful of rebar here or there. After the route 2 bridge (run river right) one can take out in the long public park that parallels river left for a ways. I would recommend scouting a good location for this prior to running. Otherwise, continue down to the confluence with the Hoosic (one logjam in this section) and take out on river left along Cole Fields. Plenty of parking down there, but it makes the shuttle a fair bit longer. At levels below 250 cfs it's a bit of a scrapefest, but can still be fun, it's been run it down to 180. Anything greater than 250cfs is good fun, and it's mostly a float anyways. At 600 cfs it can be a bit pushy, but is still class II/III. Be cautious of strainers at higher levels, as there is a spot or two where you are ducking riverwide trees. If you are looking for a little play after your run of the Green, there's a beautiful playwave on the Hoosic, under half an hour away by car. If the Green is in, the Hoosic wave will definitely have enough water.