Limmat

Places : Europe : Switzerland : Limmat

Category : River (some Whitewater, but it's wide with not many rocks)

Grade : Class II/Class III (where it flows through Baden, flat above that)

Flow : approx 100 cubic metres per second (See latest data and graphs)

Where? : Flowing northwards from the city of Zurich there's about 20km of complete flatness (which you might like). I will describe the section which flows through the town of Baden 20km north west of Zurich. Kanu Club Limmat runs this section every Tuesday evening.

Put in : Put in just upstream (South) of the MellingerStrasse bridge. There's a car park at the bottom of KanalStrasse. To save carrying, you might want to drop off your stuff by the dam first. Carry your kayaks over the road which runs across the dam, and then down the boat ramp on the West bank (don't run the dam!)

Approx length : 2 km

Major hazards : Building works (currently just some verticle girders, but could change!)

Description The river is wide, but flows quite fast through the town of Baden. Pass under the big MellingerStrasse bridge, a mill race confluence makes a good playspot. Then you can see the pretty old town and pass under the old wooden bridge. This bridge makes a poweful Eddy on river right, which can be fun. Proceed down and under road bridge and footbridge at the other end of town. All Class II stuff.

As the river rounds the bend to the left, there is a rapid with a Slalom course on it. This is a big wave train with surfable standing waves (Class III). Reasonably friendly eddies and banks make this a good spot to stop and have a play.

The remainder of this run has changed significantly in the past few years due a new HEP dam. The dam is now filled (as can be seen from aerial photography) It appears to form a large flat section flooding the older wier. The older wier gates used form a playwave and a distinct higher-level millrace on the river left. This appears to no longer exist (you can just see the top of the weir walkways still here). It's not known whether it is safe to a approach the HEP weir here. Someone who has paddled this section more recently could edit this page to provide an update.

Take out on river right at the bottom of the Nussbaumen village. The Kanu Club Limmat has its stores by the river here. Not sure what happens to the river after that.