Covington River 4.89 ft, 374 cfs
Mar 21
Trip Reports canoe, Covington, kayak, whitewater No Comments
Mike launches off a wave on the Covington
March 14, 2010
With tons of rain falling on the Rappahannock watershed I let myself get talked away from a 12 foot high Rapp run in order to go chase some tributaries. I rode along with Dave Stockdill, Jon Reed, Lex, and Mike Blasford. We met up with Chris and Boo at the river. The Covington, Rush, and Thornton were all running, but we decided to paddle the Covington.
Hmmm...what could go wrong?
At the put-in Jon and I enjoyed a quick paddle through a culvert that fed a little steam into the Covington. Immediately after, the river passed under the road in sectioned tunnels that made for a very dark and echoey float.
One of several tunnels under the bridge
If you’ve never paddled the Covington, and you like narrow creeky rivers, this one’s for you. Sometimes it choked down to little more than 2 to 3 boat lengths. With the high water, eddies and rocks were scarce. We had to portage around at least five river wide trees, but were able to paddle through a partially broken cattle fence.
Mooooooo!
The river itself was mostly II-III small scale stuff. But the strainers and the narrow nature definitely upped the intensity of this run. And don’t underestimate 374 cfs. The river was not often very wide or deep, and the flow felt very fast at times.
This is about as wide as it gets...
We found three pretty decent play holes with good eddy service, the best being minutes from the take-out. This last hole had a great foam pile, and plenty of depth. It was very retentive and allowed for easy spins. The water flowing out was a bit squirrelly, but at least three of us can attest to the fact that you won’t hit your head should you flip.
Mike surfs a great play hole near the end
If you look up this run you are sure to read about VW rapid. Often highly rated (sometimes a IV), the real pin danger would be in longer tandem canoes, or in the very likely scenario that it held some wood. As you are going around a blind corner, it might be worth a scout if you do not have a local in your party who had just run it. If it is free of strainers and you know where you are going, it is not a hard move in a kayak.
Chris at VW
The best thing about this run is the surroundings. It’s absolutely beautiful. It would be stunning in full foliage, but even with bare trees, you will have plenty to take in. There are some remote houses but development is minimal and would be almost unnoticeable with leaves on the trees.
Dave and I take it all in
Near the end the river merges with the Rush, and at the takeout it hits the Thornton. At this level, we took out on the road, as the river was flowing over the low water bridge there.
Take-out on the road
