The Savage River is a 29.5 miles (47.5 km) river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Garrett County

Garrett County, Maryland

Garrett County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. Created from Allegany County, Maryland in 1872 it was the last Maryland county to be formed. It was named for John Work Garrett , railroad executive, industrialist, and financier. Garrett served as president of the Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, and is the first major tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the North Branch Potomac River from its source. The river was named for 18th century surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 John Savage

John Savage (surveyor)

John Savage was an 18th century surveyor of colonial Virginia. He surveyed as part of a 1736 expedition to settle a boundary dispute between Lord Fairfax and the English Privy Council concerning the extent of the vast Northern Neck land grant....

.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the Savage River Dam for flood control and recreation. It has trout fishing for brown trout, rainbow trout, brook trout and sometimes cutthroat trout.

The last 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of the river, from the Savage River Dam to its confluence with the Potomac at Bloomington, Maryland

Bloomington, Maryland

Bloomington is an unincorporated town at the confluence of the North Branch Potomac River and Savage River in southeastern Garrett County, Maryland...

, is a destination for whitewater

Whitewater

Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...

 paddling and slalom racing, on the infrequent occasion when sufficient water is released from the dam. There were three one-day recreational releases in 2011, two in June and one in September.

The Savage has been used for the U.S. Olympic Trials and was the site of the 1989 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships

1989 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships

The 1989 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held on Savage River in Garrett County, Maryland near Pittsburgh in the United States under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation. As of 2009, it is the only time the championships have ever been held in the United States...

 on June 24-25. The usual put-in for whitewater boats is 0.7 miles (1.1 km) below the dam, where the highway crosses the river. The slalom racing section begins 0.5 miles (804.7 m) further downstream, below the 5 feet (1.5 m) Piedmont Dam, and ends at the viewing stand above the pedestrian suspension bridge.

The 1989 race was the only time the Slalom World Championships have been held in the United States. The next occasion will be a quarter century later in 2014, when they will be held on artificial whitewater at the nearby Adventure Sports Center International

Adventure Sports Center International

Adventure Sports Center International is an Olympic standard white water rafting and canoe/kayak slalom center located on the mountaintop above the Wisp Ski Resort at Deep Creek Lake, McHenry, Maryland, USA...

, constructed in 2007 as a more accessible alternative to the seldom-watered Savage.

The average gradient for the Savage River's whitewater section is 75 feet/mile (1.4%), with sections at 100 feet/mile (1.9%), giving the rapids a whitewater class III to IV at the typical recreational release of 800 cuft/s. The rapids are fast and continuous, with very few eddies or calm spots.