South Branch Raritan River in New Jersey

Trip Overview

I decided to do late afternoon trip on a Friday night. We just had some heavy rain night before so I thought river might be high enough to float. USGS at Stanton,NJ was showing about 2.8 ft on gauge.

The idea was to start out north of Flemington and float down so my wife would have short pickup. I started about 5 at River Road by state pumping station. There is not an official put in. There is a bridge and I just slipped the 8 ft kayak under and slid it down the bank. The water was fast moving. It was really pretty trip with fast moving water, but no real rapids. There were several places that I got stuck for a bit due to low water. Still, I did enjoy trip down to Flemington. I took out just after dark near the old Lipton plant (near Darts Mill) on Rt 523.

Overall it was fun trip that took about 2.5 hours. It would be ideal with at least another 6 inches of water.

Accommodations:

There is not an real put in, but you can slide kayak under rails put in just under the walking bridge.

Fees:

No

Directions:

Put it: From Rt 31 south of Clinton, go west on Allerton Rd about 1/2 mile. Left on Lilac Rd and right on River Rd. River Road goes to dead end, but you see a walking bridge.