| | Put-In
Rincon |
| | Badger Creek Class II+
Less than a 1/2 mile past Rincon. A mild class II rapid at most water levels, the only things to watch out for are the big hole mid-right created by a big rock- when water pours over, it just drops off the back side and gets bigger as the water does- and when Badger Creek flashes, it usually brings alot of Mud/Rock with it that can change the rapid a bit, or a bunch (12000 CFS poured down this trickle of a creek in 1940's!)... and there is a huge strainer bottom right most years. |
| | Tin Cup Class III-
About 4-5 Miles of flat water past Badger Creek...Very often this rapid is just a big wave train, from left bank to mid river. As the water gets above 2000 CFS, the pourover on the right creates a good drop and a huge hole. Most of the water runs into a rock wall river left as the river makes a sharp right then jogs back to the left... a nice beach cove is just below the waves on the right. |
| | Rock Gardens Class II
About 5 more miles of flat and a couple small class II waves after Tincup, about 1 mile past Valley Bridge putin/takeout, and as you start to come into Coaldale... at low water it has a bunch of Rocks at the top left, and on the right, creating a bit of a slalom course thru rocks... at high water these rocks make some fun holes... |
| | Cottonwood Class III
about 1 1/2 miles after the rock garden as you leave Coaldale and enter Bighornsheep Canyon... this is always a fun rapid, as the river squeezes into the canyon, it starts with a large rock in the middle, followed by a fast wave train that leads into a rock or hole at mid-bottom... As the water rises, the rock at the top will disappear and the wave train and hole at the bottom just get bigger/faster |
| | Black Hole Class III-
less than 1/4 mile after Cottonwood and thru an easy boulder garden the river starts to turn back to the left... the bend squeezes the river left and into a big Black Rock which is the Hole... water pours over this rock around 1200 CFS, and the Hole gets bigger as the water does... around 4500 CFS it starts to wash out... followed by some easy Class II waves and Boulder dodging- some of these boulders make for fun surfs depending on the water level. |
| | Treehouse Class II
About 1 mile after the black hole, a short ways after Trading post Putin/Takeout. Very similar to the Rock Garden, left to right, then back to left, Rocks are top left and thruout the right at most water levels, above 2200 they start to make some play-holes. |
| | Cotopaxi Class II
Only a mile after treehouse and as you pass thru Cotopaxi... Really just Big waves as you cross under the bridge, and a hole on the right just above the bridge at water levels around 3000. 4000 and up you might have to watch your head on the bridge (rafters) |
| | Warmup Class II+
About 3 miles after Cotopaxi, thru some fun class II waves and Boulder dodging, and 1 mile of flat water after Lonepine Putin/Takeout... Similar to Rock Garden and Treehouse, only about 2x longer... Starts with a wide, very rocky entrance. At low water its a top right entrance that gets wider as the water comes up, then along shore right into a right to left jog befor the first set of wave trains, then the river divides around an Island where left is the easiest route at low water... the first half is over when the river reconnects, but there is another Island, and left is the route at low water- stay in the middle and be ready to bust left as you get into the rocks at the bottom... as the water levels rise, more holes appear and the right channels open up- watch for tree branches on the second right channel. |
| | Rock Shop Class II
1/4 mile of flat after Warmup, the river cuts left around another small island and back to the right... left channel is always open and has some good waves and holes to play in at High water... the right Channel is a little narrower and less accessable at low water... the river straightens out and passes under a bridge, there are some fun waves on the left below it, followed by another bend to the left while dodging a few rocks... |
| | Chatterbox? Sunburn? OMG!? Class II
About a mile of flat after the Rock Shop and just after leaving the Highway... river does a left to right bend, couple of fun holes at the top, into a wave train, then as it turns right some more, the left bank has a fun wave train, at low water there are some rocks in the middle that are easily dodged... |
| | Texas Creek Class III-
About 2 miles of flat and rock dodging after Chatterbox, you appraoch Texas Creek Putin/Takeout just above the blue bridge on river left... just below the bridge is Texas Creek- the river runs straight into the left bank and comes back to the right- at low water the top right is a bunch of guard rocks, and all the water takes you into the lateral waves created by the wall if your "asleep". They get bigger as the water does. The river divides around another island, and the left has some fun waves. Again, more waves on the left as the river rejoins and shuffles back to the right, fun wave at the very bottom. |
| | Maytag Class III
About 2+ miles of flat water after Texas Creek, the river starts to make big winding turns, you'll see the horizon line as the river comes back to the right... this is very similar to Tincup- Big rocks on the right force the water into a fun wave train, from left bank to mid river with a few rocks along the bank and a big rock part way thru on mid right. The waves and the hole at the top right get bigger as the water does, only there is a lot of rock debris on the backside to watch out for. |
| | 3 Forks- also known as 3 Million Rocks Class III
2 miles of flat water and some rock dodging after Maytag you can see the horseshoe shaped rim of a Caldera in the distance with rocky fingers pointing skyward- you are inside the remains of an Volcano! There is a great big Rock on the right that is a fun jump, then you might get stopped by a headwind at Windy Corner...
As the river makes a big bend to the right and you pass the second Train bridge on the left you'll have a good look at the exstensive rock garden ahead. Right away most of the water continues right. The Left fork is a small channel that starts at the top left and hugs the left bank- watch for trees and log jams if you go this way. The main current stays in the Right fork of this rapid most of the way thru- at low water there are Rocks everywhere, and nothing is really much fun except one hit in the top middle called Captain Crunch. The river then cuts back to the right, and midway down the Right Fork is the Middle Fork, directly above a Huge Chunk of Bridge- avoid the middle as it takes you to the left fork (Trees/Logs?), and definately avoid the Bridge abuttment- this Chunk disappears around 3800 and makes a giant hole, and there are some big rocks right in font of it- Danger!!. The river has one more fork in the middle that is open, and the bottom of the rapid is an easy wave train as all the forks reconnect... at High water this is a fun rapid, at low (1000>) it is a rock fest. |
| | Loose Your Lunch/ Loosers, Lunch! Class II+
Right after 3 Million Rocks the river bends back to the right and makes a fun little wave train at most water levels. A smaller version of Maytag- it has a top right hole at bigger waters, but is rocks most of the time. At high water the current can drive you into the left bank if you catch one of the waves wrong, and there is a rock or two to dodge... Pinnacle Rock Putin/Takout is just ahead on your right |
| | Take-Out
Pinnacle Rock, Hwy 50 at mile marker 258.2 |
