Clarion River — Cooksburg to Gravel Lick: River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 980 cfs the Clarion River is inside the runnable range but only 730 cfs above the 250 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 1,150 cfs to 980 cfs, 15% down. Daily means over the past 7 days have run between 728 cfs and 1,890 cfs, 59% 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.

Clarion River at Cooksburg to Gravel Lick is a 10-mile Class II run in Pennsylvania — bouncy wave trains and the occasional small rapid. Most paddlers put in at Cook Forest canoe launch, Cooksburg, PA and take out at Gravel Lick, PA access, a trip that runs about 4 hours at a relaxed pace.

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at 250–5,000 cfs (a conservative estimate — see our methodology). Much below that and the Clarion 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 03029500 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 April–June. 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.