South of Ripley NY to Lake Erie 10.6 miles
Class Grad Size
(Area/Volume) Scene/Poll Level
IV 47/100 Tiny (36/60) A/A
mouth
of creek Streamside
Topographic Maps: South
Ripley (NY), North East
County Maps: Chautauqua (NY), Erie
Description: This is a geologically young stream, with shale walls and bottom, and evidence of active erosion and cutting. Bare shale offers good footing on the river bottom, but overlying soils coat the cliffs to make the banks slippery and hard to climb. Twenty Mile immediately enters into a canyon, but the whitewater remains tame for a couple of miles. After an hour of easy whitewater, spectacular waterfalls, and near total wilderness, the river starts to develop significant ledges, around 3 to 4 feet high. This marks the beginning of the steep section. After another ledge on a sharp left corner, Gage Gorge enters parallel to the main stream, separated from it by a thin high wall of shale. Both drop into a common pool, roar down a narrow slot barely 6 feet wide at the water line, and plunge out of sight. The slot is 100 feet long; the last drop plunges sideways into the right wall, but the approach lets you stay left until the last second and the drop deposits you into the pool below. From Gage Gorge to this point is a box canyon with no good way to portage or pull out. After the gradient lets up, the earlier pattern of small ledges and slides resumes, and there are many playing spots. A railroad on trestles with major piers in the streambed offers some interest and signifies the end of the remote canyon. The second railroad is at US Route 20 and would be very intimidating if not scouted. Between US Route 20 and the lake there are several complex, long sloped ledges. [Reported 1988]
Difficulties: The railroad underpass immediately upstream of the US Route 20 bridge has a paved concrete floor and a sloped chute ending in a 3‑foot drop; scout it from the highway bridge before you start the run. The one mile of stream around Gage Gorge has a gradient of 100 feet/mile. Stop to scout 100 feet before Gage Gorge enters. This requires climbing a 25‑foot high shale wall. The portage would be a real problem, so be sure of your party before embarking on this one. The ledges are all 30 to 45-degree sloped, sometimes close together.
Shuttle: To get to the put-in, head upstream through Ripley, New York on New York Route 76. A county road off New York Route 76 near the top of the ridge leads to the put-in. Take out at the mouth on Lake Erie or at the US Route 5 bridge near the mouth. The take‑out at the mouth on Lake Erie is all private property.
Gauges: If the shallow ledges at the put-in and small rocky rapid downstream offer some scraping, but are passable, then the level is low but acceptable.
Normal Wet Period: No available statistics on seasons. Since this section is tiny, it should normally be runnable only after a heavy rain or during spring snowmelt.