Route 29 bridge to Compton Road

Summary: Call this a suburban creek run through a short but pretty gorge rimmed by townhouses. Offers Class III rapids in the first 1 1/2 miles then eases up. The water is usually brown with urban runoff and silt from Northern Virginia development. Multiple runs can be made by using an interim takeout at 2 miles. The first few rapids can be scouted by walking down to the creek from the adjacent townhouse complex on the east side of the creek. Access: Access the putin by offloading boats on the downstream side of the bridge and parking on the access road on the northeast side of the Cub Run bridge on Route 29 (watch the No Parking zone) Takeout at Compton Road bridge. Compton Rd. is reached by going west on Route 29 for one mile and taking the left turn on Bull Run Post Office Road. Go another 1.1 miles to left on Compton Road. In less than 2 miles you'll come to a bridge over Cub Run. Park on the upstream side across from the water treatment plant. A longer 3.5 mile run can be had by paddling to the confluence with Bull Run and then to the Route 28 takeout. Rapids: Just below the putin you encounter some Class II water before a steeper boulder garden slalom with a good entrance at center left. The next drop is a set of two ledges forming a Class III. There is often wood in one of the slots through these ledges. Run the next drop on the far left. Just below here a bike path ford marks the end of scoutable rapids and the location of a small creek that enters on river left. You can carry up the path and run the creek, Big Rocky Run, down for some short but fun Class III micro stream practice _(This little creek will be scrapey until about 3 ft. Note the creek drainage includes a water treatment facility.)_ A couple Class II drops lead to the final rapid, a steep Class II+ slalom course mixed with standing waves. After that, it's a few gravel bars and some moving water to the takeout. John Alden says:'A fine surfing wave forms at the confluence of Big Rocky Run....and Cub Run as the level approaches 3 feet on the Route 29 gauge. It is a steep, fast wave with good eddy access on river left. 'For multiple runs you can eliminate the shuttle by taking out on river right at the powerline crossing and carrying back to the pedestal foot bridge and ferrying across to river left. A full run from Route 29 to the powerline crossing and the hike back to the put-in can be done in thirty minutes (without scouting).' See Also: _Classic Virginia Rivers,_ Ed Grove (1992 ed), p. 96. _Virginia Whitewater_, Roger Corbett (2000 ed.), p. 34. _Exploring Virginia's Waterways_, Ed Gertler (2022 ed.), p. 24.