Railroad Bridge Drop

Railroad Drop is a bedrock ledge that extends across approximately 2/3 of the width of the river on river right. The preferred line is down the main tongue on river left where there is a break in the ledge. At lower flows (around 1000 cfs) you will encounter a shallow bedrock shelf towards the bottom of the main tongue. To avoid it, you want to execute a strong left to right move as you enter the tongue. As flows increase however (above 2000 cfs) this line to the right takes you dangerously close to the terminal hydraulic that forms at the base of the bedrock ledge that extends from the center of the river to nearly the right bank. If someone gets caught in this hole that approximates a feature characteristic of a low-head dam, it is extremely difficult to execute a rescue because it is beyond throw rope range for most rescuers. At these higher flows it is safer to follow the main river left tongue down the middle being sure to cheat to the left rather than straying over to the right. Another factor to be aware of if boat scouting is many experienced paddlers grab the eddy behind the large boulder about 200' upstream of the ledge. Be aware that if you grab this eddy you are right above the terminal hole at higher flows. It's a good place to get set up but you need to make a hard move across the eddy line when you peel out to hit the preferred line down the left tongue. A more conservative line at higher flows is to start from the river left shore and bypass the option to grab the eddy behind the big boulder. The rapid can be easily scouted, especially at lower flows, when you can get out on the bedrock on river left and scout or portage. Stay below the high water mark and off the private property that borders this rapid. Located at USGS river mile 57.9.