GUIDE TO KNAIKE WATER
NAME OF RIVER: Knaike Water
WHERE IS IT?: Between Comrie (River Earn valley) and Braco, flows into the River Allan valley. A minor road from Comrie heads towards Braco. On the moor you see a lot of streams coming together forming a river. Eventually it drops out of sight but the road stays high up. This is Knaike Water.
PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: There is a small farm on the left hand side of the road heading towards Comrie and the put in is about five hundred meters further down the road next to a gate. As the put in point is only accessable through a farmers field it is recommended that permission should be sought after from the farmer. He does not seem to have a problem with canoeists, however he does have a big objection to fisherman. The takeout point is at a picnic site next to a large lay-bye just outside of Braco near the turning for the Comrie road. The picnic site is down a small public footpath.
APPROX LENGTH: Approximately 1 mile.
TIME NEEDED: Around 1 hour, subject to how long you spend at each fall.
ACCESS HASSLES: As far as I can tell there are no access agreements, however respect the farmer and request his permission to cross his land.
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Heavy rainfall needed.
GRADING: Waterfalls...grade 3/4 depending on the river level .
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Trees. There are six main notable falls as far as Ican remember and as the river was at a medium level only the main centre fall was of any real hazard.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is recommended as a short 'add-on' trip after paddling the Water of Ruchill.
The river is a series of ramps and waterfalls - pretty straightforward with no real rapids as far as I remember, (just waterfalls!) a good way to end the day on the way home after the Water of Ruchill. All falls are runnable and depending on river levels, the centre falls may require some bank support. I have ran all of the falls and none of them seem to have any underwater hazards. The main thing to watch out for is overhanging trees.
OTHER NOTES: I only paddled this small section, but I have looked at the river further upstream and there is nothing worth getting wet over. This section is a good stretch of water and although short it is worth it for centre falls alone.
CONTRIBUTED BY: Anon and Mark Stafford, Army Canoe Union lesmmjs@hotmail.
