KAYAKING THE ONONDAGA CREEK

This spring I really wanted to kayak the Onondaga Creek that flows through the city of Syracuse and empty's into Onondaga Lake. The only concern I had from observing the creek is that it may be too shallow if we didn't have rain. This spring was rainy and at times it was too much rain. But it made the conditions really nice for kayaking the creek.

Last year I came across an article online of Jason Driscoll, who lives in the valley, commuting to work on his kayak. He expressed the same concerns that I had regarding kayaking down the creek only after some heavy rain. This is the article in the PS as it was published in 2011: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/no_traffic_lights_slow_his_com.html

So I decided to kayak this creek in a tandem kayak as compared to always traveling in a single. A friend of my mine, Ruslan agreed to tag along and join in on the adventure. On a cloudy Saturday morning, with some threatening clouds we made our way to the creek. There are several areas that you can put with any size kayak, but I wanted to go as far up the creek as possible. After a little research, I found a nice spot on West Roswell Ave which comes off South Salina St (Route 11 in Nedrow). The street is a dead end street and it has a easy slope to the creek. After a couple quick photos we were on our way.

Shortly down the creek we came to our first obstacle, a dam right before Dorwin St. We had to portage for a very short 50 yards around the dam. If we were in single kayaks that dam would actually be very doable.

The creek then continues with a slow shallow current to Ballantyne Rd. There are grassy banks on both sides. And for a few seconds it almost seems like the creek is in a remote area. This part of the creek is probably the cleaner portion, with minimal garbage on the banks and water.

Beyond Ballantyne Rd. the creek becomes more canalized with stone walls on both sides as it enters the inner city. The current picked up fairly well and it made it slightly challenging to maneuver around obstacles in the water. With the quicker current however, it was more adventurous.

The remain part of the trip, also had a historical spin on it as there were many older building that lined the creek. The bridges were marked with dates doing back into the 1950's and 1960's.

The kayaking experience would be so much more scenic if the banks of the creek were cleaned up and kept nice during the warm months. As we kayaked closer to the Inner Harbor the smell of the surrounding garbage and polluted water made for an unpleasant environment. The smell is probably worse when it gets warmer outside.

At the Inner Harbor, there are several docks which make for an easy exit out of the water. The parking is 50 feet from the water's edge. Thanks to my wife we had a quick and easy pick-up and transport back home.

Overall, I enjoyed kayaking the Onondaga Creek. The key factor is the water level has to be high enough.

I'm currently working on a video taken by my GoPro. I will post as soon as it is completed.