The location you clicked on is a site for launching hand-carried boats and it is also a portage. This typically means that to continue paddling down the river past this site you will have to portage your boat around a dam or other obstruction.

Site Name: Shannock Falls

Alternate Site Name: Lower Shannock Dam

Town: Richmond

Driving Landmarks: This site is on Railroad St., which is a short street off of Shannock Village Road, also called Old Shannock Road or simply Shannock Road at various points. Shannock Village Road runs between Carolina Back Road (Route 112) and South Country Trail (Route 2) a bit north of where Route 112 and Route 2 join.

ADA Accessible Boat Launch? no

Shoreline: The pond below the falls is right next to the road and the shoreline is low and generally soft so access is easy except for some rocks that you have to step over and lift boats over to get from the road to the shore.

Float/Dock: no

Approximate Length of Carry between Car Access and Water: 25 feet

Parking: on street

ADA Accessible Parking Spaces? no

Water 'Features' At Site: dam, waterfall, flatwater/slow moving river

Note: Because one boat launch can access, say, both a lake and a river or both the upstream and downstream portions of a river, not all paddling trips at a given site will necessarily encounter all of the features listed.

Comments & Overview:The dam that backed up the river at Shannock Falls for over 100 years was removed in the fall of 2010. The former dam site is now the site of some challenging class II rapids with several large boulders in mid-channel. You can portage around these rapids by taking out above the rapids and carrying your boat about 100 yards down the lightly used Railroad Avenue, which parallels the river on river right (the right side of the river when going downstream). This is only relevant if you are paddling downriver to Shannock Falls because the usual put-in for paddling downriver from here is below the falls.

The put-in below the falls is a good access point to the Pawcatuck River below the closely spaced dams in Kenyon and Shannock. The section of the Pawcatuck River below here feels relatively wild, with only occasional houses visible from the river and heavily forested riverbanks. The river is mostly quiet and relatively slow-moving, but there are intervals of quickwater. Below the route 112 bridge (2.2 miles downstream) there is about 200 yards of class II whitewater that cannot be portaged (but you can take out at the Route 112 bridge above the whitewater). On this section of the river you will encounter downed trees across the river. Many will have a gap cut in them wide enough to let a canoe or kayak squeeze through. However there may be some recent blowdowns that require you to get out of your boat and lift it over or carry it around the tree. If you come across downed trees that are blocking canoe and kayak passage on the Wood or Pawcatuck Rivers you are encouraged to report them to denisep@wpwa.org . The Wood-Pawcatuck River Guide is highly recommended for paddling on the Wood-Pawcatuck river system.

For more details see the full site report