Little River (Umpqua Drainage)
Location - East of Roseburg, Oregon
Difficulty - Class IV Length - 6 miles
Level - low Date - 3/25/2006
Difficulty - Class IV Length - 6 miles
Level - low Date - 3/25/2006
After a strong weekend storm in late February I made the hour and a
half drive south to check out the seldom run Little River located in
the Umpqua National Forest. While rain was falling at the bottom of
the run it was steadily snowing at our put in around 2,500 feet.
The top part of the run was shallow and filled with a good deal of
wood, but several fun ledges made this stretch interesting. The first
rapid we ran was about eight feet tall and required riding an outcrop
of rock before boofing hard to avoid a ledge at the base. A good
deal of easy class III followed and one portage around a floating log
jam was made.
Shortly after the log jam a canyon is reached that contains a tricky
class IV rapid. This drop requires boaters to duck under the
branches of a tree spanning the river before eddying out on the left
to line up for a slot that avoids a massive old growth tree jammed in
the water. Just after this a massive log jam requires a somewhat
involved portage on river right. A trashy rapid below this leads out of
the canyon.
Several fun ledges are run to a road bridge where a double drop is
partially avoided by seal launching before running the sloping
second half. After this the Little River runs through a beautiful moss
covered gorge with less logs and more interesting class III/IV rapids.
The run culminates with a nearly perfect twenty foot falls that
features a completely clean boof flake in the center of the drop. A
sharp ten foot ledge lies just below this falls and it is best run on the
right.
Despite the numerous logs and low water, the gorgeous scenery of
the Little River and a few quality rapids made the run enjoyable and
worth repeating.
half drive south to check out the seldom run Little River located in
the Umpqua National Forest. While rain was falling at the bottom of
the run it was steadily snowing at our put in around 2,500 feet.
The top part of the run was shallow and filled with a good deal of
wood, but several fun ledges made this stretch interesting. The first
rapid we ran was about eight feet tall and required riding an outcrop
of rock before boofing hard to avoid a ledge at the base. A good
deal of easy class III followed and one portage around a floating log
jam was made.
Shortly after the log jam a canyon is reached that contains a tricky
class IV rapid. This drop requires boaters to duck under the
branches of a tree spanning the river before eddying out on the left
to line up for a slot that avoids a massive old growth tree jammed in
the water. Just after this a massive log jam requires a somewhat
involved portage on river right. A trashy rapid below this leads out of
the canyon.
Several fun ledges are run to a road bridge where a double drop is
partially avoided by seal launching before running the sloping
second half. After this the Little River runs through a beautiful moss
covered gorge with less logs and more interesting class III/IV rapids.
The run culminates with a nearly perfect twenty foot falls that
features a completely clean boof flake in the center of the drop. A
sharp ten foot ledge lies just below this falls and it is best run on the
right.
Despite the numerous logs and low water, the gorgeous scenery of
the Little River and a few quality rapids made the run enjoyable and
worth repeating.
Steve runs on one of the better drops on the run. This rapid is not far below the
canyon and the best lines are on the right side of the low island at its top.
canyon and the best lines are on the right side of the low island at its top.
This photo of the gorgeous canyon on the Little River was taken while standing on the
log jam portage. The woody lead in drop can be seen upstream.
log jam portage. The woody lead in drop can be seen upstream.
When people say that there is some wood on a run in Oregon they aren't kidding.
Portaging the big log jam in the Little River canyon.
Portaging the big log jam in the Little River canyon.
A blurry picture of Gabe boofing the last and best drop on the Little River.