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Scottish SUP Guide - Number Twenty Eight - River Tay Whitewater
Matt Gambles • 2 May 2020
Stanley to Thistlebrig, River Tay White Water
North of the City of Perth, and just off the main North to South artery, the A9 lies the small village of Stanley. The mighty River Tay flows next to it and its normal, flat but fast flowing nature changes. The River changes its attitude and appearance, providing some really fun and SUP friendly Grade 2 to 3 Whitewater. Being a River in a Country with a well earned reputation for rain, levels can change dramatically here, with different features working at different times.
From the get in at the bottom of the single track Linn Road, it looks like most of the Rivers length, lacking rapids. However, a look upstream and you can see a small, fun rapid, a great rapid to find your feet before paddling downstream. You can either walk up the river bank, cross a small stream of water on the left and carry on hiking up, or ferry glide over to the central island on the River and walk upstream to enter the rapid.
Above this rapid is a much larger rapid called Campsie Linn. A large amount of water flows through and makes some huge whirlpools and boils. It is highly recommended to to stay away from the Linn and not paddle it.
Paddling downstream from the get in and around the corner, a River wide Weir becomes visible with, at low to medium levels, three open sections to take. The Middle section is the deepest and the recommended line through. At higher levels the water may be going over the entire weir, you can see this Middle section channel still as it will have the longest wave train coming out the downstream side of it.
The Weir produces a fantastic wave for the nimble Paddleboarder at very low River levels.
After the Weir, there are several sections of smaller Grade 2 rapids, with plenty of eddies to pick up the pieces in between.
The final rapid is called Thistlebrig, a fun, bouncy long wave train. The Exit point is on the River Right bank directly after this, whereupon you can walk your board up a long set of steps to the Thistlebrig Car Park. Just after the egress point, at High River levels, again on River Right, is Wee Eric, a fantastic Surf Wave. One of Scotland’s best River Surfing waves, its a mellow ride, with an eddy right next to it.
As always with Whitewater Paddleboarding make sure that you have the correct skills, equipment and experience before heading out.
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