Destress Outdoors

Muskingham River

Dam 4 in Beverly to Dam 3 in Lowell

I really like the ramp in Beverly, Ohio. It's easily accessible, it's recently been re-done with new restrooms and there's even a coffee shop at the top! Beverly touts itself as a small community with a big heart and I can vouch for this. For a while I was coming up from Marietta for Mass on Sundays at the Catholic church here, Saint Bernard's. I'd never had anyone express any interest in who I was before, but one morning I was humbled to find multiple people asking. I couldn't believe it as I honestly didn't think I was worthy. Yet, that's how considerate I've found people to be here.

As for this pool, it's similar to others on the Muskingham in that it's just shy of 10 miles long. It makes for a nice, although long day. Some of the friends you might meet if you come here to explore...

If you paddle north, or upstream from this point, you'll find lock and dam 4 not too far upriver. In fact, you can almost see the lock from the bottom of the ramp. It makes for a really pretty scene on the river...

Next, as you near the dam you'll note that a stream enters on the left. This is Wolf Creek. You'll be able to get in a little way and it makes for a nice side excursion. In fact, if you're short on time you might just paddle from the ramp and back into this stream for some solitude. The second photo below was taken from the mouth of this creek looking upriver toward the dam.

As you look at the dam in the photo below you can almost imagine that the town of Beverly is not even around and that you're out in the middle of nowhere. The sounds from town are nearly drowned out by the water going over the dam. The most picturesque time to come, of course, is in the Fall when all the foliage is at it's most colorful.

Having explored this, the bulk of your paddle will be downstream. This section is distinguishable for the fact that it has at least three large farmland tracts that can be glimpsed from the river. Sure, the other sections have large farms too, but they're more visible here. One of them - The Wittern Farm Market - is well known locally. Below are some of the best shots I could get on the day. I've posted them in a cluster, but the scenes shown come at various points during the day and not at nearly the same place.

When you get to the unincorporated community of Coal Run you'll be at about the half way point between dams 4 and 3. This is a spot where the river makes a sharp right curve to end the "W" pattern it's taken since before the dam. The stream then begins to straighten a little and then, coming in from the left about a mile further, you'll have Big Run. You can't get very far, but paddling in does make for a nice little respite from the main stream. There's a really pleasant little cabin at the mouth too.

Next up, and PLEASE NOTE that when you get to the point where you see the very pleasant Ohio farmland below you'll want to be on the left side of the river. You're starting to get close to the lock and dam ahead, you see...

Next, you'll want to keep a sharp eye out for the floating bouys in the photo below as they will alert you to the presence of the dam which is immediately ahead. Going over it means certain death! You do not want to miss these bouys! (For those unfamiliar, the bouys are the white cylinders you see placed at 3 different points across the river.) Anyway, when you see this you'll also see what looks like an incoming stream on the left. This is actually a channel which leads to the lock gate. The second and third photos below show this - first the entrance to the channel and then the end of the channel where you can see the lock gate up ahead.

From here you'll turn back to the ramp if you're on an out-and-back, but if you want to check the Muskingham River link at the top I do believe it's possible to lock through at certain times of the year. I've never done this, but I think it would be an incredibly interesting experience.

DIRECTIONS:

The easiest thing to do is to type: "Muskingum River Park - Lock 4 and Canal" into Google Maps. You'll find that the ramp is easily located in the little park.