Sultan, WA

Upper Sultan

Upper Sultan
Photo of Tom O'Keefe by Mike Giddings taken 22OCT2003

Gauge Information

River Description

FUN FACT: Considered one of the region's premiere whitewater runs by those lucky enough to find it with water.

PUTIN: Just east of the town of Sultan (Highway 2 mile 23.1) turn north up Sultan Basin Road towards the Sultan Basin Recreation Area. Follow this road 13.5 miles to Olney Pass. The Culmback Dam Road heads down to the left. This road was gated for the past few years but more recently it has been open and the road is a public easement to Forest Service property (in the past Barry Chrisman, the Hydroelectric Plant Supervisor has answered question regarding gate access and he can be reached at 425-783-8804). Just before you reach the dam an old forest road turns off to the left (FR 6122, aka the Jenny Ring Road). Drive up this road to a large clearing and start walking. The traditional put-in was reached by following this road to the old log bridge a couple miles downstream from the dam (47.9701N, 121.7228W, WGS84). The best route as of December 2004 is to hike down the road and cross a large landslide. Just past this landslide there is a road that turns right. Follow this road which turns into a trail and crosses a small stream and then goes down to the river (47.9713N, 121.7005W, WGS84). There is flagging tape in places. Plan on one hour minimum hiking time from the clearing to the river. This trail puts you in the river one mile below Culmback Dam. Scrambling down the face of the earthen dam is tempting but illegal and you likely want to get a bit downstream of the dam to find enough inflow from the sides. Snohomish PUD has installed security cameras here and informed us that they will not tolerate trespassing on the dam. The other difficulty with putting in at the base of the dam is there are reports of some class V rapids in this section that may be difficult to scout or portage. Steep canyon walls limit access between the dam and the old bridge site although there are a couple spots where river access is possible.

TAKEOUT: Most continue on the Sultan below Powerhouse run and use the Sultan fishing access. You can reach it by taking the first street east of the Highway 2 bridge across the Sultan. After turning onto this street in the town of Sultan, take a left headed back towards the river. When you get to First Street follow it north as it parallels the river. As you pass out of town, slightly less than a mile down First Street, Trout Farm Road turns off to the left. Follow this 1.3 miles to a well marked fishing access point on the Sultan River. Park in the gravel parking area near the road and walk down a dirt road to the river. Alternative access points are available at the Powerhouse but gates will likely be locked by the time you get there, requiring you to continue downstream. See the Powerhouse Description for additional access information.

DESCRIPTION:

Whitewater on the Sultan River

The Sultan River was one of the Pacific Northwest's premiere whitewater rivers before the construction (1965) and later enlargement (1982) of Culmback Dam. Today, paddling opportunities on the Upper Sultan only occur when the level of Spada Reservoir reaches the overflow tubes and water once again returns to the channel (this typically occurs only once every few years) or during extremely heavy rain events (i.e. flooding on area rivers). The run has a wonderful combination of complexity and difficulty without a sense of being truly dangerous. It's really a perfect advanced run; consistent, technical, and powerful. The gorge itself is absolutely beautiful: green, lush, isolated. It's a fantastic run in every sense.

The Upper Sultan is a classic pool-drop river. There are almost no flat sections--medium-sized pools immediately lead into the next rapid. Aside from a potential wood portage, every drop is runnable and the difficulty factor is solid class IVs. Most of the run can be boat scouted and nearly every rapid is big, fun, and has a clear route.

You enter the first gorge section after passing beneath the old bridge and begin the first few miles of fun class IV boulder gardens. The action tapers off after a few miles when you squeeze through a narrow constriction in the canyon walls. This is an incredibly scenic section with some fun class III/IV rapids and some amazing waterfalls that cascade off the canyon walls.

About halfway through the run (6.5 miles from the dam, 650’ elevation) you reach an old diversion dam (constructed in 1930) that was used to divert water to Lake Chaplain before Culmback Dam. The diversion structure is still used and water can be piped in either direction to provide supplemental fish flows to the river or as a backup system to divert flows from the river to Lake Chaplain. The structure must be portaged on river right. Downstream from this point the river picks up in intensity with class IV+ rapids. These are some of the best drops on the run and you'll likely have good flow coming in from side creeks that pump up the flows a bit more. It may be possible to find a put-in here by hiking 3.1 miles down a gated road on river right, and this reach would likely be boatable during highwater periods even when the Culmback Dam is not spilling.

Just downstream of Marsh Creek Falls which is a large waterfall on river left a massive landslide/ dam completely blocks the river as of December 2004. The landslide was caught on video by a paddling group that was just below. Another group that was above this landslide was forced to hike out in the dark on river left. It is not known if one can portage over the new landslide. Use extreme cation when approaching this area. The action then tapers a bit as you reach the Horseshoe Bend section with a beautiful gorge and some great class III rapids. By the time you reach the powerhouse you’ve run 11 miles of great whitewater and beautiful river canyons.

If you still have daylight when you reach the Powerhouse, you can continue on the Powerhouse Run. If you have enough flow to run the Upper they will probably be running the generators at full capacity (1300 cfs) and adding this flow to the river. Last Nasty gets pretty big and sneaks up on you quickly so use caution. After that you have fun class III to the take-out.

Stephen Cameron reflects on the special qualitities of this run--"I've run hundreds of rivers all over the world in my 30 years of paddling and can say that the Sultan is probably the best and most fun whitewater run I have ever done. I'd do it in a heartbeat if I ever had the chance again."

with contributions from Stephen Cameron and Jennie Goldberg

For additional information:

• Tom O'Keefe's Upper Sultan story on Jason Rackley's Oregon Kayaking site.
• Gary Chester's run description in: Bennett, J. and T. Bennett. 1997. A guide to the whitewater rivers of Washington, second edition. Swiftwater Publishing. Portland, OR.
• Skykomish Ranger District - USFS Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest website
• Washington Prospectors Mining Association (these guys are a source of access routes and little-known trails into the gorge)

For additional information on the operation of the hydro project and recent news on this river, check the following links:

• Jackson Hydro Project
• PRISM's CRYSTAL model of the Everett water supply
• PRISM's CRYSTAL model of reservoir operations