Whitewater Kayaking in Downtown Springfield

In Springfield, Ohio we're lucky. A forward thinking group has replaced, or is in the process of replacing, all the low-head dams on Buckcreek downstream from C.J. Brown Reservoir with whitewater features. When I heard this last year, my daughter and I went and kayaked the stream. We wanted to see what the stream was like before the features. We started at Carelton-Davidson Stadium and took out in Snyder Parke near the Madonna of the trail

It was early fall and the water was fairly low. Several times the water was too skinny to float and we had to walk out. Getting out for the low-head dams was a pain. While we were in the water it was relaxing and uneventful. But getting out so often on such a short trip was a drag.

We recently had family in town for a wedding and decided to show them the new kayaking features downtown. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we've had a lot of rain. The water was up 3 feet at the time, I was told later. We put in behind the Springfield Art Museum. There were two guys surfing (surfing in Springfield, Ohio!?) the standing wave below the first drop. But there was also a large tree covering 90% of the top. We decided to not chance it and put in below.



It was uneventful and an easy float to the last set of rapids in Snyder Park. You can see that the water is well up over the sides and onto the sidewalks. Those of us less-experienced boaters in recreational kayakers weren't fairing to well. But with warm weather and plenty of help nearby, we went for it.



It was a blast. We'll be back. As a side note, when I was back taking the picture at the top, a couple of guys fishing came by with a basket of decent sized crappies. A great outdoor recreation facility in an urban setting.