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Colorado, CO

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02. Gore Canyon

Class IV-V
9.5 Miles
Avg Gradient 35 fpm
Max Gradient 120 fpm

Tunnel Falls race line (small)


Tunnel Falls race line (small)
Photo of Charlie MacArthur by Darren Livingston taken Gore Race '04 @ 950 cfs

Gauge Information

Colorado
02. Gore Canyon IV-V
high
2,090
5/17 7:15
[detail]

Min Sug. Level:  375 cfs Max Sug. Level:  2000 cfs

River Description

This is the post-season run for advanced intermediates and experts in Colorado. Usually runs strong 1000+ cfs from July until September and maybe October. It is the site of Colorado's biggest ww festival/downriver race, usually held at the end of August. At prime level, 1000 to 1200 cfs, this run is a solid Class IV run with 2 IV+'s (Pyrite and Kirshbaum) and 2 solid V's (Gore and Tunnel). The one big negative is the long paddle in, 4 miles or so of lake-like flatwater. For most people the big question is: Should I paddle my playboat? Well, in my humble opinion, you should take a creek boat until you have the lines down. Once you get comfortable with where you want to be, the run is actually quite forgiving to playboaters; you melt through most of the big stuff. The best flows for playboating are 1000 to 1200 cfs. Above that creek boats are recommended. Very few paddlers run this over 2000cfs.

Check out Mike Albrecht's and Ed Hanson's photos of Gore Canyon.

Shuttle Directions About 1 mile south of Kremmling head west on Trough Road (1 rd). Take a right 1/2 mile down this road, before crossing the river, to get to the put-in. The take-out is about 10 miles further down Trough Road at Pumphouse Campground. There is a small fee at Pumphouse to maintain the facilities.

Reaches of the Colorado River:
01. Hot Sulphur Springs to Hwy 40 bridge (Byers Canyon) (CO, IV)
02. Gore Canyon (CO, IV-V)
03. Pumphouse campground to Rancho Del Rio (Pumphouse) (CO, III)
04. Hanging Lake Exit 125 (I-70) to Shoshone Power Plant Exit 123 (I-70) (Barrel Springs) (CO, IV-V [V+])
05. Shoshone Power Plant, Exit 123 (I-70) to Grizzly Creek, Exit 121 (I-70) (Shoshone) (CO, III-IV)
06. Cameo Dam (Big Sur / Lucky 7) (CO, III)
07. Loma to Westwater (Ruby / Horsethief Canyons) (CO-UT, II)
08. Westwater to Rose Ranch (Westwater Canyon) (UT, I-IV)
09. Cisco (Rose Ranch) to Moab (Professor Valley) (UT, I-III)
10. Moab to Powell Reservoir (Cataract Canyon) (UT, I-IV)
11. Lees Ferry to Lake Mead (Grand Canyon) (AZ, I-V)
12. Black Canyon (AZ-NV, I)

 



StreamTeam Status: verified
Last Updated: 2004-09-14 18:09:09