To store your interests permanently, please login first.

 •Interests:
 •Continents:
Support American Whitewater! Support American Whitewater!

[please login to make this ad block disappear]

Pittsburgh, Ohiopyle, Ohiopyle Falls

kayak on ohiopyle waterfall Waterfall: USA, Pennsylvania, Ohiopyle, Ohiopyle Falls

What's it like

A 15 ft clean spout off a slightly slanted sandstone ledge.

kayak picture kayak picture

The rapid begins 200 yards above the main fall. The main flow of water is to the river left and for the best line, you want to stay to the right of that main current. The first ledge is 4-5 ft with a horseshoe hydraulic. It is easily negotiated staying river right of this feature. You can also try an alternate route: take a smooth boof and a few quick strokes to clear the hole. If you miss a stroke though you may end up swimming.

The second ledge is shallow and to pencil in here is a sure pin. However, there are rock spins available on river right.

The next route is to drop into the large eddy above the main drop. From this location there are two routes available: the main path is to drop straight out of the eddy into a 10 ft wide green tongue, picking up your speed and aiming for the crease where the diagonal curler (right) meets the a hole (center) about 20 ft above the edge - this is the line for a perfect execution, you will slide left off the point onto a very aerated, 3 ft boil. The second choice is not for the squeamish. You will enter river left (rock spin until your heart's content) and slide into the hole in the center (surfing and spinning):

Clay in hole above falls

Then enter the main flow, paddle hard to gain enough momentum to clear the hole at the base of the fall.

Dangers: the small horseshoe hole on the first ledge, pinning danger on the second ledge and a big hole at the base of falls with a large recirculation factor. On far right there are undercut rocks:

Ted wins the 1999 race with a back freewheel

The surrounding WW is class III with temperatures between 85 (summer) and 20 (winter). 1'4" is a good level, above this level the consequences increase.

The only time to run the falls legally is with a permit and race number provided through AWA on the race day to be announced. The first annual run took place on Saturday November 13 1999.

How to get there

Directions from Pittsburgh: Drive east on the PA Turnpike and exit at Donegal. Follow PA 31 east to PA 711/381 south to Normalville, following 381 south from Normalville to Ohiopyle.

More info

Phone: +1 724 329 8591

Pictures, descriptions and results of the first race are available from WVOutside.

Footage

Ohiopyle Falls Race video from Immersion Research: +1 814 395 9191

Info sources

Richard Modglin (Tarzan)

All pictures on this page reproduced with kind permission of Don Parks (West Virginia Outside).

Nearest weather station (°C):

Addison, PA, United States
Daily
Hourly
Jul 04
26
16
Clear
Jul 05
28
16
Clear
Jul 06
28
18
Clear
Jul 07
29
20
0.3
Partially cloudy
Jul 08
27
20
0.9
Partially cloudy
Jul 09
27
19
0.9
Partially cloudy
Jul 10
25
19
1.4
Rain, Overcast
Jul 11
25
18
1.3
Rain, Partially cloudy
Jul 12
22
19
0.6
Rain, Overcast
Jul 13
28
19
9.3
Rain, Partially cloudy
Jul 14
26
20
7.2
Overcast
Jul 15
30
18
0.9
Clear
Jul 16
32
18
Rain
Jul 17
33
20
Rain
Jul 18
31
18
3.8
Rain, Partially cloudy
Jul 19
30
17
2.4
Partially cloudy

Login to post here

drewgregory added a video. 4 months ago

Ocalapalooza Awards

LIVE results from Ocalapalooza!

MaurusStrobel added a video. 4 months ago

Gunnar talks in detail about the new Condor M...

Gunnar talks in detail about the new Condor M and XS Stabilizers #indianapaddlesurf #wingfoiling #stabilizers

Ant2010 added a video. 4 months ago

Ants carnage Cougal cascades track waterfalls...

Ant2010 added a video. 4 months ago

Cougal cascades track 2nd waterfalls #great...

Ant2010 added a video. 4 months ago

Cougal cascades track 1st waterfalls #Lamington...

RobertMachacek added a video. 4 months ago

Königseer Wasserfall

RobertMachacek added a video. 4 months ago

Hinterer Rinnbach

drewgregory added a video. 4 months ago

Ocalapalooza Day 1 recap

Recapping all the day 1 action at Ocalapalooza!

Surfrider Foundation
See the AUP for our Acceptable Use Policy and a Privacy Statement. Verein Playak is responsible for all editorial content on this site (including all graphics). No part of this site may be duplicated in any way without explicit permission from Verein Playak. Verein Playak takes great care to only publish original content, but since part of the content is user generated, we cannot always guarantee this 100%. If you notice any copyright violations, please let the editors know through the contact form and they will take appropriate action immediately. As a news and information platform, we republish small text snippets and thumbnail images, but always link to original content on other sites, and thus aim to adhere to a 'Fair Use' policy. If you believe we violate this policy in any particular case, please contact us directly and we'll take appropriate action immediately.