Clackamas

The Faraday Segment is a 2 mile bypass reach from the Faraday Diversion Dam (river mile 27.9) to Estacada Reservoir (river mile 26.4). This is a short run featuring 3-5 major rapids which at low flows are technical II/III, medium flows are III/IV and at higher flows become class IV/V.

It is about a 1 mile walk up past the gate on E Faraday Rd (about 2 miles upstream from Estacada along Hwy 224) to an easy put in location within site of the Cazadero Dam. The run is worth doing if you live in the area and have done all the other Clackamas sections, for the sake of completion if you will. There is some nice cliff jumping and a rope swing part way down the run. At medium flows all the rapids are scoutable, and most are boat scoutable. At medium flows the difficulty is on par with the Fish to Bobs run upstream, but feels more adventurous. At high flows, such as when the dam is spilling over heavily this section gets serious fast.

Take out on river right behind the Faraday Substation, a short walk up a trail leads back to E Faraday Rd.

In 2021 medium water levels were allowed to flow into this section all summer, and locals ran numerous trips that year. It was quality III/IV at those flows.