OHIOPYLE, Pa. (AP) – Beginning Sunday, kayakers and canoeists on a western Pennsylvania river will be have free rein to tumble 18 feet down a waterfall, a thrill allowed only once a year up until now.

The state Bureau of Parks earlier this month lifted a ban on access to the Ohiopyle Falls along the Youghiogheny River. On a trial basis daily through Sept. 12, the falls will now be open to qualified kayakers and canoeists willing to take the chance. If all goes well, the program will continue next year from mid-May through mid-September.

“It can be done in a way that can be managed appropriately and safely,’’ said Stacie Faust, the assistant park manager for Ohiopyle State Park.

Access to the falls was closed when the park was developed in the late 1960s, Faust said. For a little more than a decade, park officials working with the nonprofit group American Whitewater have designated one day a year for an “Over the Falls’’ Festival, and some 14,000 runs have been made over the years during that one day without a drowning.

Now, boaters will be able to go over the falls at will from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. – provided that they have their own kayak or canoe, since rentals will not be permitted.

“We didn’t want someone who’s never been on whitewater to think, ‘Hey, I can do that,’ and go rent a kayak,’’ Faust said.

Paddlers will also have to have at least three people in their party, two to serve as spotters either from on shore, or in the water. And they will be barred from going over if the water is running too high, since strong churning currents build up at the base of the falls during those times and can trap someone under the water.

The three-person requirement stems from the borough’s concerns about the need to rescue those who have problems.

“You can’t watch out for everybody all of the time,’’ said Mark McCarty, Ohiopyle’s mayor and an owner of Laurel Highland River Tours. “The individual has to take responsibility for their own actions.’’