Thanks Dan. I’m going to scout all three in the next few days–what I can see on google maps looks really good. And, I agree, those spots look better than 141.

Thanks Jo–I’d love to join your group sometime. The only problem is that I tend to set at sunset, especially on school nights!

Of the three sites I scouted on the Big River, I liked Cedar Hill Park the best (thanks again, Dan, for the tip!). At 1800 cfs, it was a bit pushy for novices; it was much better a few days later at about 1400 cfs. We were able to do quite a bit of ferry practice below the constriction, and there was just enough recovery space so that my students could either paddle upstream on river left if they missed their ferries or walk up from a scraggly gravel bar on river left. Above the constriction, I practiced eddy turns, peel outs, and s-turns with another student. Overall, I would have preferred a less squirrelly current at the constriction and fewer boils on the river left side of the ferry (and the staging eddy was really swirly) for beginners. I think I still prefer 141 at low levels to Cedar Hill Park at 1400 cfs for that reason. But it was good enough given the conditions elsewhere. I’d like to see how it is at lower levels.

Morse Mill didn’t offer much other than river wide swift water. At 1800 cfs, there was no recovery spot for beginners–they would have been swept downstream.

Rockford Beach offered a really dynamic constriction against a cliff face on river right–cross currents, rapid standing waves… If you had a group that mastered Cedar Hill Park, it would be fun to take some laps at Rockford Beach on the way back to St. Louis (it’s right off 30). I didn’t paddle it, but it looked fun. No way I would take rank beginners through that constriction at the level I observed. It would have been difficult, as well, to accomplish much ferry instruction there.