Nepisiguit River
| Class: III+ River Run | Length: 121km |
| Location: Bathurst, NB | Character: Large volume river run |
| Gauge: Ask locals | Contributor: Rox Anne, Lukas Dee |
General Information
The Nepisiguit River is a 121km-long river starting at Bathurst Lake, in Mount Carleton Provincial Park. There is currently no gauge available for this river; which makes it harder to be precise on the following river descriptions (please take this uncertainty factor into account when choosing to run a section).
Between the flatter sections, it has multiple whitewater rapids running from April to November, varying in difficulty depending on the water levels. What we call ‘’spring levels’’ would be on average during April-May, and ‘’summer levels’’ would be June-July-August (always variable from year to year). The main sections paddled by the local whitewater paddlers are Pabineau Falls, Boucher Falls and Rough Waters. The main whitewater sections are as follows, from Bathurst Lake to the Chaleur Bay:
Named Rapids
Indian Falls : About 2kms of class 3-4 in the spring, class 2-3 in the summer.
The Narrows : A few hundred meters in a canyon. Class 2-3 section at spring levels, 1-2 in the summer.
Chain of Rocks: 1km section, portage on river right on the Mi’gmaq Trail, class 2-3 in the spring, class 2 in the summer. Great park-and-play spot at the bottom of the falls to practice ferries and rolls. Access needs some kind of GPS device as it uses logging roads.
Middle Landing : Our first paddling spot of the season to warm up. Big wavetrain in very early spring, which becomes a class 2 May-June, which becomes flat in the summer. Great practice location for begginers and a great scenery.
Pabineau Falls: Class 5 rapid followed by a class 4 section in early spring. Lots of different difficulty put-ins available on river left depending on your paddling abilities. Becomes more of a class 2-3 in June-July. Fun surf hole on river left in June-July. Great park-and-play location.
Boucher Falls: Read-and-run class 3 at spring levels, class 2 in June-July, class 1 rocky boulder garden in the summer, you will scratch your boat!
Rough Waters: The main section of rapids! River gets very wide and playful here. Class 3-4 in the spring, class 2-3 in the summer. Sometimes becomes rocky end of August, rises slowly in the fall. Great for playboating. Here is a list of the rapids after the bridge:
The Jacuzzi Waves (river right): in the spring, 2-3 nice surf waves.
Split Rock (two main channels, left and right)
Le Gros Galet (with Budweiser Wave and Cody’s wave, two fun small surf waves)
Party Waves (series of small waves that can be surfed multiple people at a time)
Happy Wave (fun wave to learn flat spins)
Magic Mountain (with Baby Garb wave at the bottom)
Neti Pot
Honey Pot (Class 5 in the spring, class 4 the rest of the summer, beware to take out at the big dam river left before hitting this rapid to scout it)
The Fisherman’s Warning
Local paddlers are working on a map for the Rough Waters section.
Hazards
The class of the rapids on this river is highly dependent on the water levels, please take extra care in the spring when the water levels are high.
Access
Long Run Put in Full Run
Shorter Run Put in Rapids Run
Take Out Town Takeout
Named Rapids
Gauge
There is no gauge for this year, you need to visually check it from the Bridge.