South Anna River in Virginia

Trip Overview

We put in where Spring Rd (614) Crosses the South Anna in Hanover around 11AM. As we were putting in we saw a fawn wade across the river. The river was slightly up because Tropical Depression Ernesto and come through the area a couple days prior.

The first part of the float is very flat with a couple of riffles here and there. There were several very annoying log jams that we had to carry the canoe over. After a ways you float under Dunns Chapel Rd. You float a couple more miles and you'll get to the old Howards Mill. There's one class 1+ rapid then there is a very long single rapid that follows. Its about a 15 foot drop in about 25 feet but there is a pretty clear line on river right. This rapid is extremely fun and is probably the highlight of the trip. We only had a couple of scrapes going down.

After this rapid we several beavers on multiple occasions. The river gets flat for a ways and soon enough in the distance you can hear a loud roar. We approached and scouted what was probably a II+ rapid with about a 3 foot single drop. Had we not scouted we probably would have at least gotten stuck and possibly flipped. After scouting we went down river center and ran the rapid well.

The rest of the trip is rather flat until you float under the route 33 bridge. Then there are several class I and I+ rapids that provide decent entertainment. We took out at Rt 673 because it was getting dark.

Overall this was a pretty fun flat float made interesting my long jams and two awesome sets of rapids. Next time I am definitely going to bring my fishing pole.

Accommodations:

None

Fees:

No

Directions:

From Richmond, VA: take I-64 west to the Oilville exit in Goochland and put in at Spring Rd (614).
Take out at Greenwood Church Rd (673)