Destress Outdoors

Muskingham River

Dam 7 in McConnelsville to Dam 6 in Stockport

September 2021

In this section you've got great little river towns at either end which are quite picturesque. I began my trip today at the upriver end of this pool, launching from a ramp located within a city park just downstream from dam 7 in McConnelsville, Ohio. There are facilities here and it's pretty safe as well. I saw quite a few people getting some exercize in, both as I was putting in and as I was taking out and I've seen police cars patrolling here too. Aren't the red fish unique?

Once on the water I first headed downstream in the hope of having enough time to make it all the way down to Dam 6 in Stockport and back, a round trip of about 17 miles. If I could get that part in then it would be fairly easy to complete this pool another time if I had to. The upriver portion - from the ramp up to dam 7 - is only about 1 1/2 miles up and back. I'd ultimately be able to cover everything today, but it took me about 8 hours in my 10 foot boat. If you have a longer boat it would take less time.

Anyway, in order to maintain consistency I want to start this narrative from the furthest upriver point - dam 7. As I first paddled toward it I was perplexed by the view... What was that a white wall up there?!? Wait - with mooring cells too? This dam definitely looks a lot different than the others downstream! I think the reason is because of the grade. Downriver the dams seem to have a much gentler slope. Thus, the white wall I'd seen was actually a wall of water cascading over the dam. Then, when I eventually got up there I found that there was also an island directly in the middle and the water was hitting it and splashing over either side, adding to this "white wall".

Once I'd torn myself away from the interesting scene at the dam I began back downstream, snapping some more photos from the area around the lock wall. If you're looking upstream there's a channel of water hidden back there that leads to this wall from the upstream pool. Below is a photo. As you can see, there's a nice looking little beach here...

The ramp follows soon after on the same side. One thing you'll note about this pool is the number of shoals. I counted more than 20! Perhaps the Muskingham River name translates to: "River of Many Shoals"? :) At any rate, as you continue downstream past the ramp, the second shoal you pass on the left side has an interesting set of abandoned stone steps along with a metal guard rail leading down to it. It's fairly substantial so I'm wondering if there might have once been a business here? You can spot the steps just left of center in the second photo below...

A couple miles down from the ramp the river will curve to the right at a point where two streams enter, one on either side. The one on the right appears to be unnamed, but the one on the left is Sherwood Run. There's a camground here on your right side too, the Riversedge Campground & Marina. Below are some photos of the Sherwood Run shoal which I found to be quite picturesque. The first was taken looking downstream while the second was taken looking back up.

For the next three miles you've got a string of homes on your right along North Riverside Road while on your left you've got a string of fairly large farms along South Riverside Road. Some of the homes have incorporated interesting meterials into their embankments to keep their shorelines from eroding. Others have thier own ramps. As for the farms, you won't be able to see much of them except at certain points, but when you can it's pretty nice.

Not long after you see the farm above you'll want to keep an eye out on the right for the really funny mural below. Perhaps I should have been more careful watching behind me! Kudos to whoever painted this!

From here you'll have a new shoal visible in the distance at just about any given point as you round a right curve and pass Mann's Run, Hooks Run and a set of power lines. None of the side streams are navigable in this pool, by the way. Below is the Hooks Run shoal...

You're now in the last three miles down to Stockport. The farmland will start on your right and then it'll switch to the left after a left curve in the river. It's at this point on your right side that you'll have a short stretch of a new kind of scenery - a rocky, tree-lined bank that might provide for a nice resting spot. Then, as the river curves back to the right the homes of Stockport, Ohio will begin to appear in a long line which stretches for the last mile down to lock and dam 6.

Your first sign of downtown Stockport is a bridge over the water and a nice looking builing with a green roof. That's the Stockport Mill, a restaurant and hotel. There's a real nice articule on the history of the mill here, but you'll definitely want to be paddling on the side OPPOSITE of the river from this, lest the water current take you over the dam. You want to be on the left hand side here. The second photo below show the approach to the lock wall...

From here I turned and headed back to the ramp, but I'd like to point out an interesting phenomena that you're likely to encounter when you're out on the water on a sunny day and paying attention to the foliage along the riverbank. Note the trunks of the trees in the center of the photo below. Do you see the stripes on them? Believe it or not those stripes - all of them - are moving up and down those tree trunks in a shimmering, ethereal, blissful way. It's profoundly peaceful if you stop and ponder it. What are these stripes? They're actually reflections of the little ripples on the water! The sun is bouncing off of them and projecting them onto the trees! In fact, these ripples are playing out over every leaf on the tree to the left as well, although you can't really see that. The effect is akin to little lights flickering on and off all over the place like a kaliedoscope. It's stunning!

DIRECTIONS:

Simply look up "McConnellsville Boat Ramp" on online maps and it'll come up.