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Muskingham River

Dam 8 (a.k.a. Rockeby Lock) to Dam 7 in McConnelsville

October 2021

Today I put in from McConnelsville, Ohio.  This is classic small town Ohio at it's best.  The community actually has 3 river put-ins - one downstream from Lock and Dam 7 (which lies directly alongside town) and two upstream.  I described the downriver one in a previous journal, so now I'll concentrate on the ones that lie upriver.  The first is right downtown behind the Kroger grocery store.  A second lies on the opposite side of the river next to the River Queen Tavern.  This is the one I used (photo below)...

As I have in the past, I'm going to continue describing the river from the perspective of one navigating downstream from the furthest upriver point.  Thus, I begin all the way upstream at lock and dam 8.  This structure, like lock and dam 7, looks to have a McConnellsville address despite the fact that it appears to lie outside the city limits.  Nevertheless, here lies a beautiful scene indeed!  This location, from a historical perspective, is Rokeby Lock.  If you check out the link you'll find a nice write-up from the Historical Marker Datbase.  The site has ties to the Civil War.

You'll notice in the pictures that there's a very nice beach area on the lock side.  The other side of the river has a lengthy stretch of beach as well, but it's less accessible.  Altogether this is quite a location.  I stayed a long while, even taking the time to get out and check out the lock park a little (each of these has a park area that would be great for picnics).   

Once having pried myself away, I began heading back downriver.  As noted before, this pool (the term for the areas between the dams for those who don't know) has a ton of rocky shoals - more than 20 I'd say - and I still half wonder whether "Muskingham" means "Many Shoals".  :)  One of the more scenic ones lies just downstream from the dam on your right side at the mouth of Island Run.  I ended up posting a couple photos as I thought the view was pretty interesting both upriver and down.  The second photo is the one looking upriver and you can make out the dam in the distance.