Gearhameen River

  Grade:   3 to 4      
  County:   Kerry   Date updated:15/08/2014
  Section Length:   3 Km   Version: 2 (History)

Brief River Description

The river is mainly grade three with some grade four drops. There is a lot of flat sections, but these are broken up by great whitewater.

Directions to the Put-in

The river is located deep in the Black Valley down past the gap of Dunloe.

Best directions are to head to the gap of Dunloe and drive past Kate Kearneys Cottage. Drive right through the gap and upon leaving the gap and a little after the road begins to descend take the first right (road is marked as a cul de sac) and then the first left. Put in is at the small bridge.

The take out is back up this road but true right at the junction where you turned onto the cul de sac, continue on straight until you come to the next bridge down river. Cross the bridge and there is parking on the right.

Directions to the Take-out

The take-out is the next bridge downstream of the put-in.

River Description

The river is mainly grade 3 and relatively straight forward apart from a few main rapids.

The first rapid of note is a slot type drop, which needs protection in all water levels and is best always looked at.
It has a high potential for pinning. In higher water, 2 more channels open up at this drop offering a small ledge drop on the left of the slot and a rocky small slide on the right.

From here the river eases off until the main falls. In low water this is a relatively easy run down the middle but it gets meatier and might require inspection and chicken shoots in higher water, experience tells that if you hit the hole at speed you'll shoot through. This section leads though some more drops and a river wide stopper one should be wary of.

It's mainly class 3 wavey bits until the last section which is an overgrown bushy run under a bridge. A chicken line can be had on the river right arch but the river left arch hides a nice line over a sticky hole.

Take out is on the left after this and up to the road. The locals do not like folks taking out on their land on the river right bank.

River level gauge

Low Water - Paddle under the Bridge at put in.
Medium Water - Must roll under bridge
High Water - Bridge is flooded, take care.

River Hazards

Major pinning potential on slot drop. Every time I've run the river I've seen pinning situations here. Lots of trees.

Very fast flowing in high water, possibly upping the grade.

Author

Original Author: Mickey
Latest Author: Adrian Tanner
(Full History)

Please add or edit river details by adding to/editing the guide.


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