GUIDE TO THE RIVER FEUGH
NAME OF RIVER: Feugh.
WHERE IS IT?: Reached from the B974 south of Banchory. Less than a mile outside banchory a road to the left takes you across the Feugh at the main falls. There is a carpark on the other side of the bridge. Generally people only paddle the section you can see from the bridge as the rest of the river is flat.
PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: From the car park walk up the left bank as far as you want. Alternatively you can drive a couple of miles to Stachan and put in at the bridge here. Takeout below the bridge and walk back up the riverbank to the bridge. Here you can scramble up the bank and jump over the low wall and fence onto the roadside.
APPROX LENGTH: 300 meters or 2 miles,
TIME NEEDED: Minutes to hours depending on water levels and size and ability of the group.
ACCESS HASSLES: Please be careful as you get out as you are basically tramping through the edge of someones garden. Be considerate and stick as close to the riverbank and the bridge as possible. Do not walk through the garden or past the house as this has caused problems in the past.
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Looking over the bridge it should be fairly obvious as you can see the entire rapid. At low levels it will look boney and narrow. Most of the water will pass down the middle of the river over the ledge. At medium levels the right hand chute becomes paddleable and the main drop becomes a bit more gnarly. In high water the midstream rocks become mostly covered and the fall begins to become quite serious.
GRADING: Grade 4.
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Only what you see. There are no hidden obstacles or dangers although the main fall can become very retentive at higher water levels. Also the drop is deceptively somewhat bigger than it appears from the bridge.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A couple of small rapids lead into the main fall which is easily inspected and protected at all but very high water levels.
OTHER NOTES: This is probably not worth the journey on its own but combined with a trip on the Dee or Dye can make for an interesting end to the day.
CONTRIBUTED BY: Kris Waring.
