Elwha, WA

Elwha

Elwha
Photo of Jan Tackett by Tom O'Keefe

Gauge Information

River Description

SEASON: Best after a good winter rain and during snowmelt (November to June), but can be boated throughout most of the year.

FUN FACT: Good training run for most of the year

NEWS: The film "Unconquering the Last Frontier" on the historic saga of the damming and undamming of the Elwha was recently released. See the film's website for some preview clips, script text, or to place an order.

PUT-IN: At mile 239.5 on Highway 101 take Olympic Hotsprings Road south through the National Park entrance, across the Elwha and up towards the dam at Lake Mills. The put-in is 1.0 miles up the road from the bridge where a driveway leads down to the powerhouse (it's marked for "official vehicles and foot traffic only"). You can hike your boat down the driveway from the road.

TAKEOUT: There are several good takeouts along Olympic Hotsprings Road within the National Park. Any of the roadside pullouts are a possibility depending on how long you want to make the run. Outside the park, there is private property along the river that should be respected. The last good takeout is near the gauge which is mile 1.1 on Olympic Hotsprings Road. There is an old road bed here with decent river access.

DESCRIPTION:

One issue of interest to boaters is the future of dams on this river. Two dams were constructed early in this century which block salmon passage to some of the best habitat in the state (protected by Olympic National Park) and hide potential whitewater treasures waiting to see the light of day. These dams are on their way out. The only question that remains is the cost and the time scale (check the Elwha River Recovery page for the latest information).

This run covers the whitewater between the two dams. The river starts in a gorge with some fun III- rapids and then comes to a sequence of boulders and ledges creating a fun class IV rapid about 0.5 miles from the put-in (the portage is fairly easy). You can see some of this section from the road (look for a set of wooden steps leading down to the river about 250 yards up the road from the bridge--the rapid is just upstream of this). Shortly after this rapid you cross under the bridge and pass an alternate put-in at Altaire campground. The river opens up into a broader valley at this point consists primarily of class II whitewater with a couple of III- rapids. You can get a good view of the character of this run on the shuttle run.

lat/long approximate by tiger map server

for additional information see:

• Korb, G. 1997. A paddlers guide to the Olympic Peninsula. third edition.
• Bennett, J. and T. Bennett. 1997. A guide to the whitewater rivers of Washington, second edition. Swiftwater Publishing. Portland, OR.
• Olympic National Park website