Underrated Wave in Munroe Falls

The wave is downstream of two water treatment plants, so after a heavy rain expect some unpleasant odors. 

There's a little-known park-and-play surf wave in Munroe Falls, Ohio, at Brust Park on the Cuyahoga River.

The gentle wave is at its prime when the USGS Old Portage gauge is reading between 900 cfs and 1,100 cfs. Unfortunately, the gauge is several miles downstream, so the reading can be deceiving if there's been a lot of rain, but it's the closest gauge we've got.

The wave forms in the tiny remnants of what was once the Munroe Falls Dam, which was removed around 2005. It has decent eddy service at the right flows, but it is shallow, so if you roll expect to scrape your blade, and possibly you're helmet!

The Munroe Falls wave is great because it's gentle and wide, so it's good for beginners to get a feel for front-surfing and side-surfing with a low probability of rolling. Downstream of the wave is a large, flat pool. And the parking lot is about 100 feet from the wave.

Need more convincing to try out this underrated play spot? Check out these photos.

The wave has room for a max three surfers.

If the river's high enough, the wave hands out flat spins like candy.

Winter flows are best, as it's not rain but melting snow at the headwaters that provides most of the flow.

Yes, that's a large Nomad side-surfing.

It's shallow, so try not to roll.

Fun times.