Trip Report: Whitewater Paddleboard & Canoe on the Clackamas River!
When: 12/20/2018
Location: Clackamas River from Fish Creek to Toilet Bowl
Conditions: Great! Good flow rate on the river for what we were looking for ~1700 CFS. Beautiful winter day, mid 40's, spotty rain and sun, and cold cold refreshing water.
Duration: Roughly one hour.
Difficulty: Class 3 (on a 1-5 rating)
This is a great run for all skill levels. Plenty of beginners use this as their first whitewater run. The section from Fish Creek to Toilet Bowl is known as the Carnage Run. Downstream from there is the aptly named Confidence Run where you'll find mellower water. A great place to gain enough confidence to go upstream and get a taste of carnage.
Kid Friendly: If they're awesome!
Pet Friendly: No
Usefull links: americanwhitewater.org | pdxriverexplorers.blogspot.com | nextadventure.net
"Brian I noticed you don't work tomorrow. Wanna boat?" - Bryan
"No I wanna SUP" - Brian
"Great, I'll bring my canoe" - Bryan
"Upper Clack?" - Brian
"Yep, wanna pick me up at 9? And can you grab me a drysuit from the shop?" - Bryan
"Ohh ferrr surrree" - Brian
And so it was...
The Upper Clackamas River is such a wonderful stretch of water. We left Portland around 9:30 headed towards Estacada, a short 45-minute drive from the city. The drive out there is great, if it's a clear day you'll catch views of Hood along the way. Once you get past Estacada, you'll drive a little ways further down the road and soon be presented with a vast view of the canyon ahead of you that you are about to go play in.
There are numerous options as to where you can put in on the river as well as take out. The section we ran was from Fish Creek to Toilet Bowl. This stretch houses 7 Class 3 rapids with intermittent Class 2 as well as some calm stretches connecting the whitewater. Bryan and I set off down the river, no kayaks on this trip. We're both getting used to our new favorite sports, his being whitewater canoeing mine whitewater SUPing. So, it's great when we can make it out together and parallel our learning curves. This river is great for that. Just beefy enough for us to push it without any extremely dangerous situations. Many of the rapids on this stretch flow into deep water making a swim less consequential. Trust me, I swim all the time on that SUP.
If you put in at Fish Creek, you'll have a steady flow from the beginning, nothing major, just a few ripples to get you warmed up. After a short stretch, the river bends to the right and displays in front of you Fish Creek rapid. This is a fun Class 3 with multiple lines to choose from. Usually middle right is the best option. The main current looks like it is going to slam you into a small rock at the end but if you hold true to the flow it'll push you right up next to it and further downstream. To the left is an eddy that is probably best to just avoid. From there you've got a very short break before the next short, unnamed rapid which then leads you into Armstrong. This is a fun stretch that leads into what is usually a decent hole at the end. Beginners may swim here as they get used to bracing and edging their boat.
The next section of the river is typically Class 2 with two great surf waves called Teeny Weeny and In Betweeny. Check them out. After that is Carters Falls which is a large rock shelf most prominent on river right. The best line is to the left of that which puts you into a super fun and beefy hole. From there you have a relatively calm stretch with a few Class 2 as you head towards Slingshot. SUPER fun rapid with a slight drop and a big fluffy hole at the bottom. There's a very large eddy to the left of this that is a great spot to set up and surf. After Slingshot you have a pretty decent stretch of calm water before you head into Big Eddy. Big Eddy is great, and you guessed it, has a huge eddy on the left. The rapid itself is very manageable and most flows. Around the corner from there is Rock and Roll. This is a series of small drops that are a blast and set you up for the money rapid, Toilet Bowl. What a great rapid this is. A great class 3 that funnels you into an awesome wave train. After this, you only have a short paddle ahead of you to the take out. If you want to make your time on the water a little longer you can run the river further down to one of several options for a take out.
We like to run the Clack all the time. Its proximity to Portland and overall greatness for such a wide spectrum of paddling ability make it our Go To run. You'll almost always see other boaters out there and the stoke level is always high. It's close enough to run Dawn Patrols (run it before work in the morning) or after work in the afternoon with plenty of daylight. In the summer Next Adventure hosts the Carnage run here every Wednesday. Ten out of Ten good times.
"Brian I noticed you don't work tomorrow. Wanna boat?" - Bryan
"No I wanna SUP" - Brian
"Great, I'll bring my canoe" - Bryan
"Upper Clack?" - Brian
"Yep, wanna pick me up at 9? And can you grab me a drysuit from the shop?" - Bryan
"Ohh ferrr surrree" - Brian
And so it was...
The Upper Clackamas River is such a wonderful stretch of water. We left Portland around 9:30 headed towards Estacada, a short 45-minute drive from the city. The drive out there is great, if it's a clear day you'll catch views of Hood along the way. Once you get past Estacada, you'll drive a little ways further down the road and soon be presented with a vast view of the canyon ahead of you that you are about to go play in.
There are numerous options as to where you can put in on the river as well as take out. The section we ran was from Fish Creek to Toilet Bowl. This stretch houses 7 Class 3 rapids with intermittent Class 2 as well as some calm stretches connecting the whitewater. Bryan and I set off down the river, no kayaks on this trip. We're both getting used to our new favorite sports, his being whitewater canoeing mine whitewater SUPing. So, it's great when we can make it out together and parallel our learning curves. This river is great for that. Just beefy enough for us to push it without any extremely dangerous situations. Many of the rapids on this stretch flow into deep water making a swim less consequential. Trust me, I swim all the time on that SUP.
If you put in at Fish Creek, you'll have a steady flow from the beginning, nothing major, just a few ripples to get you warmed up. After a short stretch, the river bends to the right and displays in front of you Fish Creek rapid. This is a fun Class 3 with multiple lines to choose from. Usually middle right is the best option. The main current looks like it is going to slam you into a small rock at the end but if you hold true to the flow it'll push you right up next to it and further downstream. To the left is an eddy that is probably best to just avoid. From there you've got a very short break before the next short, unnamed rapid which then leads you into Armstrong. This is a fun stretch that leads into what is usually a decent hole at the end. Beginners may swim here as they get used to bracing and edging their boat.
The next section of the river is typically Class 2 with two great surf waves called Teeny Weeny and In Betweeny. Check them out. After that is Carters Falls which is a large rock shelf most prominent on river right. The best line is to the left of that which puts you into a super fun and beefy hole. From there you have a relatively calm stretch with a few Class 2 as you head towards Slingshot. SUPER fun rapid with a slight drop and a big fluffy hole at the bottom. There's a very large eddy to the left of this that is a great spot to set up and surf. After Slingshot you have a pretty decent stretch of calm water before you head into Big Eddy. Big Eddy is great, and you guessed it, has a huge eddy on the left. The rapid itself is very manageable and most flows. Around the corner from there is Rock and Roll. This is a series of small drops that are a blast and set you up for the money rapid, Toilet Bowl. What a great rapid this is. A great class 3 that funnels you into an awesome wave train. After this, you only have a short paddle ahead of you to the take out. If you want to make your time on the water a little longer you can run the river further down to one of several options for a take out.
We like to run the Clack all the time. Its proximity to Portland and overall greatness for such a wide spectrum of paddling ability make it our Go To run. You'll almost always see other boaters out there and the stoke level is always high. It's close enough to run Dawn Patrols (run it before work in the morning) or after work in the afternoon with plenty of daylight. In the summer Next Adventure hosts the Carnage run here every Wednesday. Ten out of Ten good times.