Channing H. Philbrick Park

Irondequoit Creek is a small waterway that runs through Channing H. Philbrick Park (formerly Linear Park) in Penfield, New York. Linear Park was formerly the site of a sewage treatment plant but now contains a city park, a road maintenance yard, and private housing. Most of the year the creek literally runs at a trickle. The highest recorded flood peak was 1,480 cfs on October 29, 1974. _PHOTO: Harry Marinakis on a winter descent of Lower Falls._ THE PUTIN Access to Irondequoit Creek is from the parking lot at Channing H. Philbrick Park, on Linear Park Road, off Route 441 (Penfield Rd.) in Penfield. From the bridge at the parking lot, follow the hiking trail upstream along the river-right bank. Put in anywhere that looks good. IRONDEQUOIT CREEK - CHANNING PHILBRICK PARK The stream drops steeply through Linear Park, providing an impressive half-mile run of class III whitewater with an average gradient of ~65 feet per mile. Irondequoit Creek is plagued with wood, so foot scouting is mandatory to locate the strainers. The drop through Linear Park occurs in two major stages: _Upper Falls_ and _Lower Falls_. The more difficult of the two drops is _Upper Falls_, called _Sgoh-Sa-Is-Thah_ by the Iroquois Indians. It is not a waterfall per se, but a steep cascade. In prior centuries the area was the site of industry that utilized the power of the creek. One can still see stone remnants of foundations through the thick brush and trees along the stream banks. _SGOH-SA-IS-THAH_ (UPPER FALLS) _Upper Falls_ is rated class III. Two boat-eating hydraulics form between the concrete platform (on river right) and the observation platform (on river left). This section is best when the concrete platform on river right is awash with water. A long, deep pool adjacent to the observation platform (on river left) gives the boater a chance to recover before the final drop into the bridge abutment. This pool is a great place to practice both left and right stern squirts in the swift current. The final drop to the bridge is steep and rocky. Generally, run river right and shoot through the right-hand tunnel under the bridge. Beware of the large pillow and vicious whirlpool that forms when the creek crashes into the bridge buttress on far river right. A fatal pin is reported to have occurred at this spot. As soon as you complete the drop, paddle like a possessed demon for the left side of the right-hand tunnel so that you don't get swept into the whirlpool and pinned. Also be sure to scout under the bridge as strainers often jam under there. After the creek passes under the bridge, the creek becomes wide and shallow for a long, straight class-II run. Downstream the creek starts a gentle turn left and divides around an island. The gradient increases noticeably, forewarning the proximity of Lower Falls. LOWER FALLS _Lower Falls_ is the other difficult segment of the Linear Park Run. The water forms four large wave/holes in quick succession as the creek drops over a few small ledges. THE TAKEOUT After _Lower Falls_, the creek makes a 90-degree turn to the right and passes under the highway. Takeout at a sandy beach on river-right just before you pass under the bridge. It is a 3-minute hike through Linear Park back to the parking lot. AVERAGE DAILY PEAK FLOW (BY WEEK OF THE MONTH) The following data was computed by averaging the daily peak flow (by week of the month) over the years 1986-1996. Table values are in cubic feet per second (cfs). The computations were performed by downloading U.S.G.S. data strings into an Excel spreadsheet. Month1st Week2nd Week3rd Week4th Week10-Year Monthly RangeJAN 125 94 214 149FEB 126 123 179 172MAR 186 195 198 277APR 356 261 239 207MAY 159 199 171 105JUN 96 105 107 100JUL 81 67 102 72AUG 106 92 66 84SEP 69 63 70 81OCT 94 92 134 100NOV 109 114 99 140DEC 179 122 153 134 Finger Lakes Area Runs Bowman CreekCascadilla Creek Canandaigua Outlet Canaseraga Creek Canisteo Cayuga Lake Hole Cayuta Creek Conesus Creek Fall Creek (1.) Fall Creek (2.)Fall Creek (3.) Great Gully Creek Honeoye CreekIrondequoit Creek Keshequa Creek Keuka Outlet Lock 32 Whitewater Course Owasco River (Outlet) Salmon Creek Sixmile Creek Sugar Creek Taughannock Creek (1.) Taughannock Creek (2.) Trumansburg Creek Vanbuskirk Gulf Google Map of New York Whitewater New York Whitewater Paddlers Facebook Group