Black River — Lyons Falls to Carthage: River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 1,590 cfs the Black River is inside the runnable range but only 1,090 cfs above the 500 cfs floor, so it is sitting at the shallow end of what this reach runs at. A dry few days would take it under.

Over the last 24 hours it has gone from 1,750 cfs to 1,590 cfs, 9% down. Daily means over the past 6 days have run between 1,040 cfs and 1,440 cfs, 30% higher at the end of the week than the start. The last day and the week as a whole point opposite ways, which usually means a recent rain bump on top of a longer rising trend — worth a second look at the chart before you commit to the drive.

Black River at Lyons Falls to Carthage is a Class I run in New York — easygoing moving water with light riffles and nothing technical. Most paddlers put in at Lyons Falls and take out at Carthage.

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at 500–8,000 cfs (a conservative estimate — see our methodology). Much below that and the Black River gets low and bony, so you end up scraping gravel and walking the shallows; well above the top of the range it turns fast, cold and pushy, which is a more serious day than most casual boaters want. We read USGS gauge 04260500 about every 30 minutes and compare the live number to that window, so the verdict at the top of this page reflects conditions right now rather than a monthly average.

Flows here are usually most dependable May–October. Spring can run high after rain or snowmelt, and late summer often drops too low to float well — but the gauge always beats the calendar, so check today's reading before you go.