The list below rank orders 68 whitewater rivers in difficulty. It is based on a 1992 survey of 29 members of the Blue Ridge Voyageurs canoe club. On average, respondents had paddled 38 of the 68 rivers, and had more than 10 years of whitewater experience. Each respondent rank-ordered those rivers that he or she had paddled. The median intercorrelation between rankings of different boaters was +0.85, indicating moderately high agreement. The consensus list was generated using a stepwise, paired-comparison method. In other words, River #1 was rated harder than River #2 by paddlers who had paddled both rivers, #2 was rated harder than #3, and so on down the list. There were some ties between successive rivers; these ties were broken based on the two rivers' relative rankings in comparison to other rivers on the list. The survey "margin of error" is, in general, about +3 ranks. And, of course, river difficulty may vary dramatically under different water and weather conditions.
1. Upper Yough
2. Upper Shavers Fork
3. Upper Gauley
4. Chatooga Section 4
5. Middle Fork Tygart
6. Tygart Gorge
7. NB Potomac/Kitzmiller
8. Lower Gauley
9. Tygart Arden
10. New River Gorge
11. Cheat Canyon
12. Savage @ 1000cfs
13. Buckhannon (Alton to Sago)
14. Maury/Goshen Pass
15. Laurel Fork, below Rt.33
16. Wills Creek, below Fairhope
17. Ocoee
18. Chatooga Section 3
19. Upper Big Sandy
20. Lower Yough
21. Trout Run, WV
22. Middle Fork Salmon, ID
23. Seneca Creek, WV
24. Stony Creek, PA
25. Lost River Dry Gorge
26. James River, Richmond
27. Upper Tye River
28. Bullpasture Gorge
29. North River Gorge, VA
30. Upper Conway
31. Little Falls Potomac @ 3.0'
32. SF SB Potomac/Moorefield Canyon
33. SB Potomac/Smokehole Canyon
34. Tohickon Creek, PA
35. Upper Rapidan (above Wolftown)
36. Rock Creek DC below Military Rd
37. Covington River
38. Cub Run (fall line)
39. Dry Fork of the Cheat
40. NF SB Potomac/Hopeville Canyon
41. Nantahala River
42. Pohick Creek
43. Cheat Narrows
44. NB Potomac/Bloomington
45. Passage Creek Gorge
46. Shenandoah Staircase
47. Casselman(Markleton-Ft.Hill)
48. Gunpowder Falls below Rt.1
49. Muddy Creek, PA
50. Lehigh (Rockport-Jim Thorpe)
51. Patapsco above Ellicot City
52. Potomac below Gr. Falls @3.5'
53. North Anna
54. Rappahannock/Fredericksburg
55. Robinson (Rose R. to Rt.29)
56. Rappahannock/Kelly's Ford
57. Potomac Needles
58. Thornton River
59. Hughes (& Hazel) River
60. Cacapon (Rt.50-Rt.127)
61. Middle Yough
62. Goose Creek (Dam-Rt.7)
63. Cedar Creek
64. Sideling Hill Creek
65. Potomac/Violettes Lock "Loop"
66. Upper Rap above Rt.211
67. Antietam Creek below battlefld
68. SF Shenandoah (Compton area).