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Trip Reports

Falls Colors on the Shenandoah, South Fork - 1.6 f...
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Bob Whiting (OC1) and Ginny and Gary Quam (OC2), paddled the South Fork of the Shenandoah from Shenandoah River State Park to Karo (pronounced kay-ro) boat launch, a 5 1/2 mile trip. This section of the Shenandoah is wide and shallow, and the water is very clear. We could easily identify catfish swimming on the bottom, even in the occasional deep pool. There are numerous small (tiny) ledges crossing the river. It became something of a game to find a clean route through. Even then we scraped the rocks more than a few times. Corbett, in “Virginia Whitewater”, claims canoe zero to be 1.2 ft. on the Front Royal gauge. A more boat friendly minimum would be 1.8 ft.. We explored several smaller channels created by islands. There are nice views of Massanutten Mountain, with the Blue Ridge Mountains in view further down river. Fall color was okay, I would not call it spectacular. The sycamores on the shore were turning brown though.


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