On this route, the scenery is beautiful and there are easy riffles over gravel bars and through rock gardens, the boulder ruins of an old mill-dam at Route 97, and a mess of fallen trees between Morgan State Road and Route 97. Below Gaither Road the valley narrows into a wooded gorge that confines the river all the way to Elkridge and tidewater. In this gorge the stream begins tumbling over complex boulder rapids that continue for a few miles. When the whitewater starts letting up, there is another short stretch of fallen trees and logjams. The remaining few miles are smooth, with the exception of the Falls of the Patapsco about a half mile below Marriottsville. Here the creek suddenly plunges over a high, sloping ledge which should be carried by most paddlers. Take out is almost two miles down the Patapsco to Woodstock.