Trucking the Youghiogheny

Navigating Swimmer's Rapid

Ohiopyle to Stewarton

County: Fayette
USGS Quads: Ohiopyle, Mill Run, Ft. Necessity
Difficulty: Class III+
Gradient: 27 feet per mile (48 feet in the loop)
Average Width: 300 feet
Velocity: Fast
Rescue Index: Accessible but difficult
Hazards: None
Scouting: Dimple, Rivers End, and Railroad Rapids
Portages: None
Scenery: Excellent
Highlights: Ohiopyle Falls, Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ferncliff Peninsula
Gauge: Pittsburgh Weather Service (Ohiopyle gauge), (412) 262-5290
Runnable Water Levels: Minimum Maximum
Ohiopyle Gauge: 1.0 feet 4.5 feet
Confluence Gauge : 1.5 feet 8-9 feet
Additional Information: The enjoyable levels start at 2.0 on the put-in gauge, 2.5 feet at the Confluence gauge. Ohiopyle State Park, Ohiopyle, PA 15470, (412) 323-8531; National Weather Service, (703) 260-0305 (Washington, DC)

The seven-mile Ohiopyle to Stewarton run on the Yough was for many years the single most popular whitewater paddling run in the eastern United States (slipping only recently into second place behind the Nantahala River in western North Carolina).

With beautiful scenery, dependable year-round flow, and delightful Class III+ rapids, the Yough has it all. Rich in paddling history, the"Lower Yough" was the birthplace of commercial rafting in the eastern United States (back in 1964) and the training ground for some of the nation's best paddlers.

Popularity, however, is not without its costs. Many are the summer Saturdays when you could seemingly walk from Ohiopyle to Stewarton by hopping from raft to raft and kayak to canoe in an endless river-choking flotilla of private and commercial craft.

Neoprene and ABS are to the Yough what water hyacinths are to the Suwanee. A bike trail has brought additional crowds into Ohiopyle, and traffic and parking reaches urban levels on peak summer weekends.

Because of the river's popularity and resulting huge crowds, the"Lower Yough" is tightly managed. Consequently, there is a quota system and fee for running the river in season (April through mid-October). While walk-ons are still allowed, those traveling long distances should call in advance for details.

Free launches are available for hard boaters after 3 p.m. Another fee covers a bus shuttle from the Brunner Run take-out up a long hill to a huge parking lot where boaters leave their vehicles after running the primary shuttle of six miles.

Shooting the Loop

The first mile of the run, known as the Loop, is the most popular and contains a great deal of action. Paddlers have everything thrown at them but the kitchen sink.

For openers, after putting in below Ohiopyle Falls, the paddler must face a series of ledges and then a rocky stretch known as Entrance Rapids without any warm-up. It's a long, tortuous course with twisted currents. A huge rock near the top (Sugarloaf), stands midriver to catch broaching boats (drifting sideways). Half of the upsets on the Loop take place here.

At higher levels (four feet and above), there is a hungry hydraulic (a powerful surge in current) on the left side halfway down. Most paddlers stick to the left of center and regroup in an eddy below Entrance to mend boats, bandage bodies, retrieve paddles, and gather courage for the next rapid, Cucumber.

Here, a long rock garden (a patch of exposed rocks) precedes a vigorous drop through a narrow passage. You should usually stick to the far left, avoiding anything resembling a broaching (drifting sideways) situation, and gradually move to the right, where huge boulders have forced the course of the river. As you are forced right, continue to stay far left.

Getting Flushed

At lower levels, run the main drop of Cucumber about four feet to the right of a large flat rock on the left. At three feet on the put-in gauge, this flat rock gets covered up, but the route remains the same. Going through Cucumber with or without a boat is what it must be like to be flushed down a toilet.

The next rapid is called Piddly — a Class II surfing hydraulic below the larger channel on the right. This is followed by Camel and Walrus, named for two distinctively shaped offset rocks in midstream. Eddy Turn is next. The sneak is on the left, and the right is a rock jumble chock-full of eddies, with a two-foot ledge lurking halfway down.

After this comes Dartmouth Rapid, with its usually punchable hole at the bottom center. The final Loop rapid is Railroad (Class III-IV)-another infamous boat-chewer. Several passages exist over this steep drop. However, you will notice Turtle Rock in the river, with its back on the right and its head on the left. With enough water you can sneak between the neck and the head.

But the classic way of running Railroad is about 10 feet to the left of the turtle's head over a diagonal ledge going from left to right. Do not run underneath the turtle's head or you will enter Charlie's Washing Machine — a vigorous hole that flips most paddlers in a heartbeat.

Once below this diagonal ledge, the paddler is faced with a choice. At high water, you can go straight over some padded rocks. At lower water, these rocks offer pinning possibilities, so be prepared to go far right or far left immediately after running the ledge by Turtle Rock.

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