Rivanna River - Brook Hill River Park to Milton Landing

Trip Overview

Put in at Brook Hill River Park, just below the South Rivanna reservoir dam and floated about 12 miles down to Crofton Landing for the 4th of July. It was a hot day (low 90s) but some clouds and a nice breeze helped keep us relatively comfortable for most of the float. It's been an extremely dry spring, and while some recent rains have the river back up to navigable conditions it's still a little low. Definitely dragged ourselves over a few rapids and sandbars.

The upper stretch, between Brook Hill River park and Darden Towe, is kind of small and intimate. The river is more of a creek to start but grows as the north fork and other tributaries join. Some signs of civilization along the way but the banks are mostly wooded.

By the time we hit Darden Towe park the river is fairly wide and the landscape opens up a bit as you pass through town. This section was chock full of tubers out for the holiday. The tubers thinned out by the time we passed by Riverview Park and the rest of the ride was a quieter, though we still saw several more kayakers and others out on the water. There are former dams at Darden Towe that still provide a bit of a drop and one slightly larger rapid right before Riverview that has a fun little chute if you find the right line.

The four miles from Riverview to Milton are very scenic. Several more smaller rapids and one slightly larger drop immediately before the Milton Landing takeout.

Abundant if fairly expected wildlife for the area - lots of ospreys, several blue herons, green herons. Some bass, gar, turtles.