Region: River: NTS Sheet: UTM Type: Zone:
Avalon Penninsula Big River (Flatrock Brook) 1 N\07 NAD83 22
River Description:
Five great waterfalls cascading down into Flatrock Cove, but the final one lands hard onto a
flat slab of rock.

Difficulty Rating: Hardest Rapid: Flow Information:

IV+
VI In order to make this run fun it needs to have a ton of

water. Spring flood type conditions. You'll have to be

on your toes to catch this one.
How to get there: Gradient

Put-in Northing Easting: Section: Avg

5285643
370536
Distance 0.6
km

Head out to Torbay from St. John's and continue north on Gradient 67 m/k

RD. #20. 2.2 km north of the RD. #21 turn off will be

fork in RD. #20. Turn right at this fork and follow the road 355 fpm

down into Flatrock Cove. Continue up the hill and cross

the bridge over Big River and park at the Convenience

store on the left hand side. There is a trail along the river

here and it is advised that you pre-scout all the drops.

Take-out Northing Easting:

5285977
371106

The river finishes in Murdering Gulch on the northern side

of Flatrock Cove. Take out options include a 670 m

paddle across the cove to the boat launch or you could

attempt to take out in Murdering Gulch and hike back

along the river to the convenience store.
Detailed Description of the River
The first few rapids on this run look like a lot of fun and are pretty straight forward. However
the intensity, size and consequences of the drops increases downstream. The final five drops
require care and good safety setups. The fourth drop (V+) consists of 1m ledge into a
narrow pool perched on the brink of a 5 m waterfall. The entrance to the falls is guarded by a
large boulder in river center. Most of the flow out of the pool is around the river left side of
the boulder and into a 2 m deep pothole (Danger, Danger, Warning, Warning). I'd say its
critical to have a safety set here that can reach into the pothole and pull the stern of a boat
back into the main flow of the falls. Below this falls is a 60 m chute leading up to the final
drop. At medium levels there is an eddy on river left below the second last falls. This is a
must make eddy, once you're into the chute you're going to have to run the final drop. The
final drop (Spinal Tap, VI) is 7 - 8 m onto a flat slab of rock dipping off into a serious boulder
garden. The debate rages, but its been suggested that if you launch the river right side with a
perfect boof angle of 47.45999999 you may not crush your vertabrae into oblivion. If you
can land this waterfall you can figure out the boulder garden down to the ocean, but beware of
the surf, it can be quite nasty in Murdering Gulch.