Paddling the Wood River - 5/20/12

[mtruman]

The Wood River is one of the nicest sections of river paddling in Rhode Island. After years of "threatening" to do this paddle we finally got a push this weekend when Kim invited us to join their group on Sunday. It was a lazy afternoon floating down the river under a cool, green canopy. Can't believe it's taken us so long to do this one. We'll definitely be back!

The story is on the blog here: http://theramblingsblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/paddling-wood-river.html

The typical views were like this...

With a bit of this mixed in...

 

[Stan]

Another inspiration. Thanks.

How does the water level hold up during the summer? Do you think a 21' tandem can maneuver some of those tight spots? Have a cousin in the area who paddles and she's mentioned the Wood River, too. Seems like a little gem so close to home.

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Lovely pics. Any good wildlife sightings?

 

[coldfeet]

Nice, just saw your blog. How's camping near there?

 

[mtruman]

Another inspiration. Thanks.

How does the water level hold up during the summer? Do you think a 21' tandem can maneuver some of those tight spots? Have a cousin in the area who paddles and she's mentioned the Wood River, too. Seems like a little gem so close to home.

This is the first time we've ever done the upper section so I'm not completely sure about summer water levels. My guess is that there would be a few scratchy spots but it would be OK in general. We've done the lower section in the past starting in Wyoming Pond and paddling upriver a couple of miles (mid-summer) and the river levels there have been fine. It's definitely a a great local gem. Can't wait to give it a go in the fall - the foliage along that stretch should be spectacular.

Lovely pics. Any good wildlife sightings?

Thanks. Amazingly we didn't have a single wildlife sighting all day. Heard lots of birds singing but that's it. Expected to see a ton of turtles basing on the logs (usually the case here) but didn't even see one of those. Really not sure why...

Nice, just saw your blog. How's camping near there?

There is camping in Arcadia in designated campsites and off-trail backpack camping is also allowed. A bit of info on the Arcadia page here: http://www.riparks.com/arcadia.htm There are other private campgrounds in the area as well. This page has a few suggestions and some additional info on Arcadia.

 

[coldfeet]

If I'm looking at this semi correct then I can paddle the Wood River and do a short hike around there and grab a few beers at John Harvards and Trinity Brew House on the same weekend. I'm working on my 4th list of the www.viewsandbrews.com

Going to see if John S on vftt can make it one of those weekends I'm free, 7/7 or 7/14 or 7/21.....if your free again and looking tp paddle there please feel free to join me for a paddle/ short hike or beer. Now I have to mapquest the paddle to the breweries.

 

[coldfeet]

Looking at maps and other places of interest (beer) seems like I'm going to need more than just a weekend in RI, maybe a 4 day trip there in mid August. One of the breweries is on Block Island so that's a day right there. Will keep u updated when I go out there.

 

[mtruman]

If I'm looking at this semi correct then I can paddle the Wood River and do a short hike around there and grab a few beers at John Harvards and Trinity Brew House on the same weekend. I'm working on my 4th list of the www.viewsandbrews.com

Going to see if John S on vftt can make it one of those weekends I'm free, 7/7 or 7/14 or 7/21.....if your free again and looking tp paddle there please
feel free to join me for a paddle/ short hike or beer. Now I have to mapquest the paddle to the breweries.

John Harvard's (I haven't been there yet) and Trinity are both in Providence and about 1/2 hour drive from the kayak takeout at Wyoming Dam. Our July is looking pretty crazy at the moment but send me a PM when you're coming and I'll see if we're free. The rest of the group that did the paddle last time are all beer fans as well, so you could get a few takers

My wife has been after me to start working on V&B since she heard about it. Seems she's more interested in this than the other lists

Looking at maps and other places of interest (beer) seems like I'm going to need more than just a weekend in RI, maybe a 4 day trip there in mid August. One of the breweries is on Block Island so that's a day right there. Will keep u updated when I go out there.

A few days in RI in August is definitely not a terrible thing - particularly for paddling and drinking beer. Again, we've got a lot going on but keep me posted. Let me know if you're looking for any other local info.

 

[coldfeet]

Thx, will keep u posted. Nice to have a crazy July coming up. Only good things I hope.

 

[coldfeet]

Thinking again about this early to mid July. will keep you posted

 

[coldfeet]

Any info on where to find out about water levels would be appreciated...

 

[mtruman]

Any info on where to find out about water levels would be appreciated...

Not sure that there are any monitoring sources that would help. Best bet would be to find a friendly local that could check it out. We're about 1/2 hour from the launch and there are a couple of other RI folks on VFTT that might be able to provide intel as well.

 

[coldfeet]

Any other suggestions on day paddling near Providence area? I would like to camp out on water but if we have to then we would car camp at legal place if needed. Thx..want to go weekend of July 6/7..

 

[mtruman]

Any other suggestions on day paddling near Providence area? I would like to camp out on water but if we have to then we would car camp at legal place if needed. Thx..want to go weekend of July 6/7..

See, this is what happens when you tell me you're in no rush for the info - I procrastinate. I promise to get more to you, but in the meantime here's a couple of possible bits that may help.

This is a map that I started a year or so ago our favorite launch spots and paddling routes in RI and CT. They are basically all shoreline (mostly salt pond, tidal river and harbor) locations. Not exactly "near Providence", but in RI nothing is very far away RI/CT Paddle Map

The route map for the Wood River paddle that started this post is here: Wood River Paddle Map

The Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association has good info here: http://www.wpwa.org/ and paddling maps here: MAPS

The RI Canoe/Kayak Association has a website with message boards where you might get some good suggestions: http://www.ricka.org/

There's also some suggestions for RI paddling here:RI Blueways including info on two campgrounds with waterfront sites and paddling access.

The RI Blueways and Greenways site has also just gotten a major update (just noticed this now) and has interactive maps for launch points and water trails: http://www.exploreri.org/

We don't actually have any experience with paddling around Providence itself or in other parts of central or northern RI, so hopefully some of these links will help with that. For a paddle/camp with a car spot, there's the Pawcatuck River paddle that we did last fall (a continuation below the Wood River paddle in this thread). There is at least one paddle-up site (multiple campsites at that one) about half way along the route. I need to check on the exact location and confirm our put-in and take-out locations for that one (I'll add them to the map when I do).

Hopefully some of this gives you some ideas...

 

[mtruman]

I ran into this blog post yesterday which includes info on the Wood/Pawcatuck paddle and the campsite that I mentioned: http://eckilson.blogspot.com/2012/05/woodpawcatuck-camping-may-19-20-2012.html

It also notes the paddle-in campsites at Burlingame campground and has links to the USGS hydro data for the Wood River.

 

[coldfeet]

Mark, thank you so much for all the help. Will research your info over the weekend. Thank you again.

 

[coldfeet]

Got a reservation sat night at burlingame state park...will check out the wood river saturday, maybe do a short walk on sunday..thx

 

[coldfeet]

Done! Paddled the upper wood yesterday with my nephew Matt. Water was high enough for me to only scrap my kevlar boat a few times But the little bugs were out to get us. Luckily I carried my bug head net for those bad ocassions and this was one of those times. We pulled out at the dam for a bite to eat then we carried across the street and put in a little past the dam falls. Saw a few herons, kingfishers and I think an osprey. A couple of fisherman were there also. When we entered the big pond the wind was blowing against us making us work a little. Forgot to say that sunscreen was needed all day plus lots of water, temps were in the low 90's with lots of humidity. So after that we headed off to Providence and had beers at trinity and john harvards which goes by a different name. On the way back we picked up matts car at the put in and went to Burlingame to eat and sleep. Well we ate but sleeping was a problem, with the 700 campsites surrounding us, we really didnt sleep. I did a little but Matt ended up sleeping in his car, people there kept walking through our site to go to the bathroom, very rude. This morning we drove to the ferry and went to block Island, had a beer at Mohegan then quickly took the next ferry back and went to middletown for a beer at Coddington. whew! Finished the 4 viewsandbrews.com rhode Island list. We did a few hikes near each place to make it official. Can't download pics till I get to my computer later this month, or August. Thanks to Mark for all of his help, hope to go back one day again.

 

[mtruman]

Done! Paddled the upper wood yesterday with my nephew Matt. Water was high enough for me to only scrap my kevlar boat a few times But the little bugs were out to get us. Luckily I carried my bug head net for those bad ocassions and this was one of those times. We pulled out at the dam for a bite to eat then we carried across the street and put in a little past the dam falls. Saw a few herons, kingfishers and I think an osprey. A couple of fisherman were there also. When we entered the big pond the wind was blowing against us making us work a little. Forgot to say that sunscreen was needed all day plus lots of water, temps were in the low 90's with lots of humidity. So after that we headed off to Providence and had beers at trinity and john harvards which goes by a different name. On the way back we picked up matts car at the put in and went to Burlingame to eat and sleep. Well we ate but sleeping was a problem, with the 700 campsites surrounding us, we really didnt sleep. I did a little but Matt ended up sleeping in his car, people there kept walking through our site to go to the bathroom, very rude. This morning we drove to the ferry and went to block Island, had a beer at Mohegan then quickly took the next ferry back and went to middletown for a beer at Coddington. whew! Finished the 4 viewsandbrews.com rhode Island list. We did a few hikes near each place to make it official. Can't download pics till I get to my computer later this month, or August. Thanks to Mark for all of his help, hope to go back one day again.

Glad it finally worked out for you! Sorry the Burlingame experience wasn't better - that place can be a bit of a zoo. We're actually there this weekend for a family camping trip and I hope it's a bit less crazy than the holiday weekend (but not counting on it). I guess it's time for us to start working on Views and Brews in RI. I think we can handle the commute

 

[mtruman]

Done! Paddled the upper wood yesterday with my nephew Matt. Water was high enough for me to only scrap my kevlar boat a few times But the little bugs were out to get us. Luckily I carried my bug head net for those bad ocassions and this was one of those times. We pulled out at the dam for a bite to eat then we carried across the street and put in a little past the dam falls. Saw a few herons, kingfishers and I think an osprey. A couple of fisherman were there also. When we entered the big pond the wind was blowing against us making us work a little. Forgot to say that sunscreen was needed all day plus lots of water, temps were in the low 90's with lots of humidity. So after that we headed off to Providence and had beers at trinity and john harvards which goes by a different name. On the way back we picked up matts car at the put in and went to Burlingame to eat and sleep. Well we ate but sleeping was a problem, with the 700 campsites surrounding us, we really didnt sleep. I did a little but Matt ended up sleeping in his car, people there kept walking through our site to go to the bathroom, very rude. This morning we drove to the ferry and went to block Island, had a beer at Mohegan then quickly took the next ferry back and went to middletown for a beer at Coddington. whew! Finished the 4 viewsandbrews.com rhode Island list. We did a few hikes near each place to make it official. Can't download pics till I get to my computer later this month, or August. Thanks to Mark for all of his help, hope to go back one day again.

Glad it finally worked out for you! Sorry the Burlingame experience wasn't better - that place can be a bit of a zoo. We're actually there this weekend for a family camping trip and I hope it's a bit less crazy than the holiday weekend (but not counting on it). I guess it's time for us to start working on Views and Brews in RI. I think we can handle the commute