- srcarlson717
- 55 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Perelman Park to Home
4.0 miles, 2 hours, 3.5 feet, seemed higher
Second warm day of the year!
I put in at Manheim Township’s Perelman Park, four river miles up from our place, and checked out the houses. MT is noted for its big abodes and the ones along the river are certainly large. Shame so many follow an ethos that is all too prevalent along the river: lose the trees, bring on the lawn.
Maybe they are all taking their cue from the country club, which one paddles through on this stretch. It’s a barren wasteland.
To be fair, the majority of the river along this route is tree-covered and there are a couple of long, tree-lined straights that are pretty cool; the stretch down from the dam is one of my favorites.
Speaking of the dam, this is one of two portages on this leg of the river. There is early signage and there are also signs for the supported take-out spot, which is a few hundred meters from the put-in. There is also a spot where you can take out closer to the dam, but during this trip there was a family fishing there so I opted for the posted take out location.
The potage is pretty easy - grass, stairs, pavement, grass and then put in.
A second portage is a few hundred meters downstream and this happens on the left as you approach a spillover. There is a concrete shelf just shy of the spillover, aim for that. Getting back on the water here can sort of be a pain, but it’s not really a problem.
This stretch overall is pretty smooth. In low water a lot of it can be slow, especially when you get closer to the city and approach the dam. The only bumps of any note are just after the Eden Road overpass right by the old East of Eden restaurant, which used to have one of the few spots where you could have lunch and a drink along the river. Now a financial services company, you could, in a pinch, use this as a put-in/takeout, but if you leave a vehicle, you are likely to be towed. At least that’s what the owner told me once.
Negotiate the “rapids” here by going 10+ feet to the left of the pile of rocks in the middle of the waterway. If you go right you will be knocked around a bit and the river angles sharply over there. If you don’t see any rocks in the middle, the water is high n you gonna rip.
Apparently, this is also a good spot to moor a pontoon boat. I’ve thought about trying to get some sort of motorized craft for the river and once saw a guy buzzing up and down by our place in a “speed boat,” but I’m not sure a pontoon craft would be my first choice.
Aside from being a pretty awesome ride overall, the highlight of the trip was seeing a fox buzzing by up on a ridgeline. I’ve only seen three or four foxes on the river and while I don’t much like them stealing our chickens, they’re still pretty cool.
While there is certainly potential to see eagles on this stretch (I’m watching one circle in the sky at this very moment!), I didn’t see any. Herons are guaranteed as are waterfowl of various sorts. I think I saw one or two hawks.
Because of its proximity to the city and ease of shuttling, this could be a really good option for a lot of people. There are also multiple ways you could extend this trip by taking out on S. Conestoga Drive (5.3 miles) or one of several take-outs in County Park, making the trip anywhere from 6.8 (Rockford) to 7.8 (Pavillion 3) miles.
If you have any questions about this, or any section of the river, let me know. I’ll try to help you out or get you in touch with someone who can.
Paddle on, Garth!
