Salmon Creek
Location - Oakridge, OR area
Difficulty - Class II, III, IV, IV Length - 3 miles
Level - lowish
Date - 4/16/2007
Difficulty - Class II, III, IV, IV Length - 3 miles
Level - lowish
Date - 4/16/2007
Located less than an hour from Eugene, Salmon
Creek is a fun little creek that sees very few
boaters. The short paddle contains five or six
excellent rapids, with the rest of the run being
shallow class II. If this stretch were more
continuous it would make an outstanding addition
to the nearby and classic miracle mile.
The run starts out with a few easy class II rapids
and soon brings you to the top of the toughest
rapid on the run. We made the run at a low level
and were able to eddy out on river right a little
ways into this section and just above the biggest
drop. Boat scouting would have been an option,
but the main chute in the rapid looked a little
trashy and since this stretch sees so few boaters
we wanted to be sure to scout for wood.
Creek is a fun little creek that sees very few
boaters. The short paddle contains five or six
excellent rapids, with the rest of the run being
shallow class II. If this stretch were more
continuous it would make an outstanding addition
to the nearby and classic miracle mile.
The run starts out with a few easy class II rapids
and soon brings you to the top of the toughest
rapid on the run. We made the run at a low level
and were able to eddy out on river right a little
ways into this section and just above the biggest
drop. Boat scouting would have been an option,
but the main chute in the rapid looked a little
trashy and since this stretch sees so few boaters
we wanted to be sure to scout for wood.
The line was clean and mos of us ran the river right chute, boofing left to avoid a
pinny looking section. The run out is rocky, but nothing too tricky. Everyone in
our large group cleaned the drop just as a steady drizzle began to fall.
Some fun class III rapids follow and the scenery remains top notch. All of this
section is an easy boat scout, but st one point the river swing to the right and
drops through a four or five foot tall crack that looks like it would product a big hole
at higher flows. At this level we were able to eddy out just above it and look for
wood from our kayaks. Things mellow again until the last boulder garden of the
run. This is a very technical rapid that has some pin potential and should not be
taken lightly. We all ran down the top on river right before making a fast airplane
turn around a couple of nasty looking boulders at the bottom. Piton spots abound
so it is important to be precise through this rapid.
A long stretch of pretty class I and II lasts for a mile or so. A couple island split the
flow and the creek mostly splashes over shallows cobble bars. The most notable
land mark here is a huge boulder that splits the flow and forces most to make a
ninety degree turn to the left. Watch out for wood at the bottom of this class II+ as
a tree was almost entirely blocking the river the day we made the run.
Eventually the take out is reached and paddlers are confronted with a final horizon
line at Salmon Creek Falls. This twelve foot ledge is too steep to be a slide and
too angled to boof, making for a sticky hole that is tough to avoid if you take the
wrong line. A few feet off of the river right side is the easiest as there is a bit of an
auto boof flake built into the ledge. River center tends to shove paddlers deep
and into the meat of the hole. One person in our group found this is out the hard
way and after surfing for a minute and narrowly missing being hit by a few other
boaters running the falls he swam out and was helped to shore. River left has the
potential for a big sliding boof, but plan on surfing the hole if you mess that line up.
Overall Salmon Creek is a fun short run close to home that would get run much
more often if it were more continuous and not so close to some other classic runs.
This is definatly worth paddling every now and again.
pinny looking section. The run out is rocky, but nothing too tricky. Everyone in
our large group cleaned the drop just as a steady drizzle began to fall.
Some fun class III rapids follow and the scenery remains top notch. All of this
section is an easy boat scout, but st one point the river swing to the right and
drops through a four or five foot tall crack that looks like it would product a big hole
at higher flows. At this level we were able to eddy out just above it and look for
wood from our kayaks. Things mellow again until the last boulder garden of the
run. This is a very technical rapid that has some pin potential and should not be
taken lightly. We all ran down the top on river right before making a fast airplane
turn around a couple of nasty looking boulders at the bottom. Piton spots abound
so it is important to be precise through this rapid.
A long stretch of pretty class I and II lasts for a mile or so. A couple island split the
flow and the creek mostly splashes over shallows cobble bars. The most notable
land mark here is a huge boulder that splits the flow and forces most to make a
ninety degree turn to the left. Watch out for wood at the bottom of this class II+ as
a tree was almost entirely blocking the river the day we made the run.
Eventually the take out is reached and paddlers are confronted with a final horizon
line at Salmon Creek Falls. This twelve foot ledge is too steep to be a slide and
too angled to boof, making for a sticky hole that is tough to avoid if you take the
wrong line. A few feet off of the river right side is the easiest as there is a bit of an
auto boof flake built into the ledge. River center tends to shove paddlers deep
and into the meat of the hole. One person in our group found this is out the hard
way and after surfing for a minute and narrowly missing being hit by a few other
boaters running the falls he swam out and was helped to shore. River left has the
potential for a big sliding boof, but plan on surfing the hole if you mess that line up.
Overall Salmon Creek is a fun short run close to home that would get run much
more often if it were more continuous and not so close to some other classic runs.
This is definatly worth paddling every now and again.
The toughest drop on Salmon Creek is this technical class IV
boulder garden.
boulder garden.
Conor getting ready to miss a few boulders in the steepest section
of the river.
of the river.
The river left side of this drop is a boulder sieve that should be
avoided. The run out of this mess is visible upstream in this
photo.
avoided. The run out of this mess is visible upstream in this
photo.