Canyon Creek, CA

Canyon Creek below French Lake

Canyon Creek below French Lake
Photo of N

River Description

This write-up is based on a run at 80 cfs. Based on the photos from an earlier descent I'm guessing they had 10-15 cfs more, I think a more optimum flow.

This rarely run creek saw its first descent in 1993. No it's not a South Silver, but it is a cross between Fordyce and the South Yuba-Spaulding run. Just the scenery alone is worth the trip. At times it reminded me of Tuolumne Meadows.

An hour or so hike down a gated road leads to the French Lake dam. The view downstream is impressive - continuous drops surrounded by granite. The canyon starts out with some fun drops. Pay attention, and catch a small eddy on the right to scout a 25' drop. As with many drops on this run, I think another 20 cfs would make it more appealing. Portage on right if so inclined. The drop below this has an intimidating horizon line, best scouted on the left. This is a 7' drop with a sticky hole. Running the middle gives you a boof to easily clear the hole. A few more rapids to Weil Lake, more like a pond really.

Just below Weil Lake is a twisting jolly of joy to an 8' slide. This 20' falls looks quite interesting, but needs a bit more water. These next two rapids and looked very runnable but no-one in our group ran them. The next rapid is straight-forward, following the main flow and boofing the left side of the rock at the bottom. After a short pool is an 8' entrance to a 20' falls. Next is the best slide on the run (Faucherie Lake is in the background). It starts with a 25' slide and into a hole that laid me out on my back deck (the others didn't get their faces wet, go figure). Immediately downstream is a curler followed by a boxed-in hole with an undercut wall on the right.

The paddle across Faucherie Lake is 0.3 miles, not enough time to take in the beautiful granite surroundings. The spillway is to the right and can be paddled over. Shortly below here is an impressive drop that none of us decided to run that day (it was run on the first descent). Once again, just a wee bit more water for this one. Shortly below here is a road crossing that I will use next time for the take-out. I found the rest of the run to Sawmill uninteresting. A group that kayaked a few days prior to our trip, told me that the section from Sawmill to Bowman has a long portage and just one good rapid, although now seeing photos of that drop maybe it is worth it.

All in all, this creek is WELL worth the time and energy.

Write-up courtesy of Chris Shackleton and Dreamflows

2008 recreational boating releases:
September 5th-8th – Recreation Flow 120 cfs
September 12th-15th – Recreation Flow 100 cfs
September 19th-22nd – Recreation Flow 80 cfs

Boating Survery:

After paddling this section during the recreational release or at any other time, please take the online survey so that AW can effectively negotiate during the relicensing process.

Click here to fill out a survey

Other Information sources:
Awetstate-CanyonCreek