Chagrin River in Ohio

Trip Overview

This was my first time kayaking. I bought a cheap inflatable kayak from the internet and decided i would try something simple to get the feel for it. The first time we tried this, the river was way too low. We could really go anywhere. This time we tried it, it was after a decent amount of rain the previous week. The water level was perfect this time.

Check the USGS level for Daniel's Park. I would say the minimum to run this is 5ft. The flow was about 1000cfs and was perfect.

We reached the put-in at around 9:00 and were in the water by 9:30. The put-in is within the metroparks, we didnt get bothered by any rangers but there is a chance they could be around so be sure you have a valid registration.

Right at the beginning there was a little bit of whitewater to get us moving. For the most part the river is very calm and gives you ample time to relax and just enjoy the scenery. Mixed throughout though you will hit a few patches of whitewater to keep you on your toes. The whole run is about 7.7 miles and took us a little over 2 hours to complete. We were obviously not in any hurry to get to the end.

All in all this was a great place to learn how to control the kayak and just get a feel for kayaking in general. I'm hooked now, and am going to search for other places to kayak nearby.

The destination spot (Daniel's Park) used to have a small dam right before the take-out spot. It has colapsed for the most part, and when the water is as high as it was, isn't even noticable. There are signs on the last 2 bridges that warn of the dam but don't let these alarm you. There is a considerable amount of water rushing over the area where the dam is (was), so just dont try to exit your craft till you've safely made it past that point.

If you've never paddled before (like me before this), i suggest visiting both the put-in and take-out spots just to get a feel for how you plan to enter and exit. You can see the so-called dam at daniel's park if you pay a visit there.

Directions:

Put-in (Rogers Rd.) directions:

From Rt 90, exit at the Rt 91 exit in Willoughby. Head south on 91. About 1 mile or so down the road, you will encouter Rt. 6. Take a left on Rt.6 and stay here for another mile and a half or so until you reach River Rd. Take a right on River Rd. and continue another 2 miles or so and you will see Rogers Rd on your left. Take that left and there will be a small parking lot to your right. This is the put-in

Take out (Daniel's Park) directions (This is from the putin spot):
Take a left out of the Rogers Rd parking lot, and take a right at the next intersection (River Rd.) Continue going straight on River Rd (past Rt 6) until you reach rt 84. Turn Rt on 84 and about 1/2 mi down the street you will encounter a fork in the road. Take the right fork. Daniel's park will be about 1/4 down on your left.