Granite Creek

Gauge Information

Min Sug. Level:

3000 cfs

Max Sug. Level:

6000 cfs

River Description

DESCRIPTION
Granite/Ruby is an excellent run for late in the spring snowmelt season. In many years it is runnable into July. The first 2 miles of this run on Granite Creek are steep with a gradient in the neighborhood of 200 fpm and filled with nearly continuous class 3 and 4 rapids with one long class 4+ which can be scouted from the road. When you arrive at the confluence with Canyon Creek the flow doubles and the creek is renamed Ruby Creek, and is really more of a river than a creek, especially as flows increase. Ruby is not as steep as Granite, but is still quite continuous with a gradient in the 100 fpm range. Ruby starts out with class 2 rapids and builds up momentum downstream and flows through many fun boulder gardens at low water, big wave trains and a few big holes at high water. The rapids are mostly class 3, but some push class 4 at higher levels, and continue right up to the take-out below Panther Creek.

LOGISTICS
Granite and Ruby run alongside the scenic North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20), which is closed in winter, making this a late spring/early summer run. Coming from the west side, you'll reach the takeout first, which is at the East Bank trailhead (Hwy 20 mile 138.3). The takeout is at a footbridge, takeout on river left and carry up the trail. Continuing up the highway after 2.9 miles you'll reach another large parking area at the confluence of Canyon and Granite creeks (the Canyon Creek trailhead at Hwy. 20 mile 141.2). This can be used as a put-in for running Ruby or as a take-out for doing short laps on Granite. A couple more miles up the highway at a large turnout (Hwy. 20 mile 143.1) is the put-in for Granite.

HAZARDS
This run is prone to wood hazards. Scout as much as you can from the road.

See Gary Korb's description in Bennett.

Lat/Long approximate.