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I had a good time paddling this course while I've been out here in D.C. They say its a class IV, that's debatable but surely its a FUN III+ with continuous, powerful water and about 5 fun playholes basically one after another.

Its the runout from a Myrant Power plant, they do some type of energy production, I think coal burning, that requires water to filter into these tanks in order to cool them down, so the water comes out warm (75 degrees or so) and then pumps into this whitewater park the D.C. community has strategically placed there. They use it for training the US Olympic Slalom team, and one can get a pass to run it as well.

But it isn't as Utopic as you guys might think, a local kayak shop has basically monopolized the thing and deems themselves the judges of who can  or cannot paddle this thing. Their ultimate goal is to tell you that you aren't experienced enough so that you will pay them $160 per group of three to show you down. But then their supposed "guides" are a bunch of wannabee boaters, who don't bring anything special to the table. I got in on two open houses so it was $20 each time, but after they explained to me how the long term deal worked, it seemed like a joke.

To their credit, they do let you take a certification course to obtain the "blue card" and if you pass that test you can show up and paddle as long as you come with another blue card holder.

But essentially, this whitewater course isn't what it could be, a perfect winter training ground for people getting into the sport, because they have taken the purest thing about kayaking, its free nature, and turned it into a business model. 

Here is a link to the photo album, let me know if it doesn't work, I couldn't find a URL from anywhere within the gallery manager for posting:

http://www.professorpaddle.com/media/albumview.asp?album_id=791

The reality of it is that these things have to pay for themselves.  Sounds a little overboard in this case though.  I like the idea of a setting where restaurants/pubs/businesses have overhanging decks where people can spectate or take breaks and the businesses bring in revenue that way.  make the course easy enough that joe bob can float it in his walmart raft, maybe flip but get in no real trouble, and the kayakers still have a decent play spot - this would greatly increase the use if joe bob could use it too.  Brings in more people, no pay to play, business gets customers.

Forgive me for the long post. Just trying to fill in some knowledge gaps on Dickerson.

The blue card seems like a big unnecessary pain, but is very valid. It's a bit complicated so it helps to understand the circumstances of the Dickerson course.

The course is physically located on the grounds of a high security power generation facility, Mirant. They own the course. Sorry, poaching would probably bring out the guys with guns.

BCE, or Bethesda Center for Excellence, is the non-profit organization that developed Dickerson for the '92 Olympics and continues to be the liaison organization that works to maintain paddler access on the Mirant Power Station property. A difficult job since the power plant could really give a damn about paddlers since we don't really make them electricity or money.

The program Liquid Adventures runs at Dickerson is a small component of their school. They issue the cards for access (mostly pink; i.e. pay $20 per visit to paddle) and the blue card test which allows two blue card paddlers to use the course whenever it's open within certain restrictions at no cost. There are a lot of rules. Why? Because a large utility company owns the property (and pays insurance) and requires the folks in charge of paddlers to ensure it is safe. If they gave out cards willy-nilly and some weekend warrior got hurt access for aspiring Olympic slalom boaters would suffer or simply be eliminated. It's really all about the slalom. The fact that aspiring creekers get to use it to train for their first Upper Yough run is just icing on the cake.

To paddle the course you need to donate $60 a year to a non-profit organization (BCE) that does a lot with that money for the local and national slalom paddling scene. Beyond that it costs $20 per visit to paddle the course if you don't have your blue card and you have to go with Liquid Adventures. You can also take a class with them for $60.  I've taken two while they were not ideal classes, their instructors are excellent and highly regarded--and yes, some are my friends with whom I boat regularly with.

The biggest groups of paddlers on the course are A) slalom boaters training and B) Liquid Adventure boaters who would like to be Upper Yough boaters and are working hard to get there. In the times I've been there mostly it's group B and is a swim fest. People challenging themselves in sometimes pushy, always technical water. It's fun to see. Particularly when you see people get better at the moves.

My biggest beefs at Dickerson are that for paddling on what is basically an industrial site you have to drive an hour from DC and it's been closed a ton since I've been a member due to power plant construction. And generally it doesn't really fit into my seasonal paddling schedule. A couple visits in the fall after Gauley season and before winter brings up the creeks is about all I think I'll make it there.

Some further information on the course:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickerson_Whitewater_Course
http://bce-racing.com/blog/?page_id=154

I would follow up with Nate, or even Tom again as that doesn't seem right.

 that's awesome. Flack jacket=anti-PFD though. Great if you like to squirtboat.

If you don't like this option, and I agree the rules are burdensome but what do you expect from a power company, go over to Great Falls or Little Falls. Real whitewater that runs most of the time.
Bill

Dickerson, it's in the title in the post. The course is on a constructed channel on their property.