· Introduction
· Cheshire Reservoir
· Adams to North Adams
· North Adams to Hoosick Falls
· Hoosick Falls to Johnsonville
· Schaghticoke
· Schaghticoke to the Hudson
· Map 1
· Map 2
· Map 3

Introduction
Depending on water level, the Hoosic presents exciting and scenic canoeing, kayaking or rafting. Because the Hoosic is a fast-draining system, best boating is likely to be in the spring or during the autumn rainy season, but any significant rainfall will have an effect.

These paddling descriptions date back to the early 1990s. Some scenery may have changed, but the put-in and take-out locations still apply.

It is illegal and dangerous to enter the flood-control chutes in Adams, North Adams and Hoosick Falls, which include several roll dams, designed to expend the energy of the river. Once caught in the rolling action, it is hard to get out. Power-company dams in the New York section should be given wide berth. Obstructions are marked on the maps with stop signs.

Cheshire Reservoir (See Map 1)
You may paddle the reservoir from the roadside rest area on State Route 8 at the north end of the lake (#1 on map). The shallow, weedy water body is privately owned. By heading south and crossing the causeway, you can explore some 500 acres.

Paddling the river just below the dam at the north end (the "jungle") is not recommended because it is narrow, shallow, and obstructed by branches.

Adams to North Adams-3.5 miles (See Map 1)
To take this generally bucolic, leisurely, though short paddle, put in downstream of the Lime Street bridge, at the north end of the flood-control chute in Adams (#2 on map). The route also shows attributes of an urban river. You will pass a wastewater-treatment plant, left, and cross under several transmission lines. The river gets deeper and narrower as it loops through farming fields-a pleasant surprise in this generally built-up area. This is not a route to take if you are in a hurry-that same red barn remains on your right for an hour. You may want to stretch your legs in the cemetery near an abandoned railroad bridge.

Soon after you pass automobiles embedded in the river bank, left, you will see the second bridge: the Hunter Foundry bridge. Take out before it by scrambling up the riprap (#3 on map). A roll dam is under the bridge. The road over the bridge comes out on the Curran Highway just north of the radio station towers.

North Adams to Hoosick Falls-30.5 miles total (See Maps 1 and 2)
This trip can be abbreviated by starting at the landfill-access site in Williamstown, or quartered by finishing at the Clayton river access park in Pownal. In low water, it is preferable to start in Williamstown. A dam in North Pownal requires a quarter-mile portage. The full trip will take 10 hours.

Put in across from Treet Cleaners on state Route 2 west of North Adams center, at the mowed berms marking the end of the flood-control project (#4 on map). The pedestrian bridge you soon pass under carries the Appalachian Trail over the river and railroad. The Green River enters on your left. Look over your shoulder from time to time for views of Mount Greylock and the Green Mountains. After passing under the North Street bridge in Williamstown, you come to the landfill river access (a.k.a. Lauren's Launch), developed by HooRWA (#5 on map).

The river receives treated wastewater from a treatment plant, then swings north, surrounded by hemlock forest in a wild setting. As the river gains strength, the water becomes more challenging. Depending upon flow, tricky rips await at the landfill; at the Vermont line just above a deep swimming hole; and just before the River Road bridge in Pownal. The Pownal takeout is a few hundred yards below the bridge, on the right (#6 on map): Clayton Park. To reach it by car, turn left off state Route 346 at River Road, but before the River Road bridge, turn north (right) on an unsigned road for about a mile. A parking spot for the park is on the left.

If you continue paddling, backwater indicates the approach to the tannery dam; take out on right to carry around the deserted factory (#7 on map). Scout the area for the best route. Trains use the tracks occasionally.

Below the tannery the river (#8 on map) is more leisurely, cutting through an opening in the Taconic Mountain Range that runs, mostly in New York, from northwestern Connecticut to Manchester, VT. The Little Hoosick enters, left, in North Petersburgh. The Hoosic remains bucolic through the town of Hoosick.

Take out six-tenths of a mile beyond the state Route 22 highway bridge, at a baseball field, on the left (west) (#9 on map). Stay to the left after the highway bridge and be sure to take out before the railroad bridge. Below the railroad bridge the river is encased in cement, making it impossible to get out. Your ride can meet you by continuing straight rather than crossing the Route 22 bridge.

Hoosick Falls to Johnsonville-13 miles total (see Maps 2 and 3)
This lovely stretch is generally smooth sailing, but bear in mind that although it appears to be stillwater, the considerable flow can catch the unwary off guard. Make any decision to pull ashore well ahead of time. Put in from gravel-surfaced Junction Road in North Hoosick Falls off Route 22 (#11 on map). The road is marked on topo maps, but not signed. Bear left off Route 22 before the bridge over Walloomsac River, and then left again for about one mile. Turn right to the Wallomsac before the home.

[Another possible put-in point is also north of Hoosick Falls, downstream of the wastewater-treatment plant below where a canal dumps back into the river (#10 on map).]

The river follows a wooded mountain spur after the entrance of the Walloomsac, under Eagle Bridge and the Buskirk covered bridge (#12 on map) to the long stillwater behind the Johnsonville dam. You may want to explore the remote and scenic north shoreline before taking out on the southern shore, near the floats that mark the dam (#13 on map). To reach this point by road, turn off state Route 67 east of Johnsonville, under the railroad bridge, and bear right before the fire department.

Schaghticoke (see Map 3)
The next stretch is not recommended. The segments from the Johnsonville dam to Valley Falls dam to the Schaghticoke dam and through the Schaghticoke Gorge should be attempted only by experienced white-water kayakers, and only if conditions are right. Depending on power-generation activities, the water can be quite high, approaching Class IV rapids, or too low to navigate.

Schaghticoke to the Hudson-5.5 miles (see Map 3)
For a brief but fine canoeable stretch, put in below the hydroelectric station at Schaghticoke village (#14 on map). This put-in is at a bridge at the end of a light-duty road off Route 40. Pass the town garage and then turn left to the bridge. Ask permission from Niagara Mohawk employees at the powerhouse, just beyond the bridge. The put-in is difficult, but once in the water, follow downstream through rapids, riffles and impressive scenery, past the entrance of Tomhannock Creek. Here the river slows its course, although the current remains very strong, running through broad fields.

West of the junction with the creek, the river turns northerly to meet the Champlain Barge Canal and the Hudson at a wooded peninsula. At the confluence, the Hoosic flows through the 60-foot-deep Hoosic River Gorge, which includes significant plateau remnants of the preglacial Hoosic delta and a large bedrock island with an unusual forest cap. Water level depends on power generation. At low water you may find some tricky rapids at the mouth.

Turn north in the canal to take out at Lock 4 State Park, just before the lock (#15 on map). Or, for fun, pay the lock tender to lock you through. By automobile, Lock 4 Park is just across the river from Stillwater.

Map 1
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Map 2
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Map 3
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