Hayfork Creek
Hayfork to Nine Mile Bridge(Middle Run)
| Difficulty | III+(IV) |
| Length | 8 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | June 4, 2025 |
River Description
Just outside Hayfork is this gem of an intermediate level run on Hayfork Creek. Once on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, there are options for creekside camping. Logistics are easy as the run is paralleled by Hyampom Road.
Due to contentious private property issues at access points closer to the start of the whitewater on this run, paddlers should put in at the Highway 3 bridge in Hayfork (state law allows paddlers to access rivers at bridges, just stay within 30 feet of the roadway and bridge). This adds a three-mile float through the valley before the canyon closes in and the whitewater begins. This section has some brush hazards and can involve brush portages. The next bridge at Doctor Lane has river access and there are no signs declaring no parking or private property, but put on here at your own risk.
Below Doctor Lane bride the creek is mainly class II for the first half of the run. The first class III rapid Gobo is a straightforward drop with a river right scout. There are a couple more class III rapids before you hit class IV Fraggle Rock towards the end of the run. Make sure you scout Fraggle Rock, as it can hold wood and the left line that looks like a cheat is a large ledge that can be worse than the main chute depending on flows. Scout either side of the river.
Take out immediately upstream of the Nine Mile Bridge on Hyampom Road. This is also the put-in for the Lower Run which is considerably more difficult.
River Features
Hwy 3 Bridge Put-in
Put-in within the state highway easement at the Highway 3 bridge in Hayfork. This is the only publicly accessible put-in in Hayfork. Other seemingly good put-ins are on private property.
Gobo
Fraggle Rock
Nine Mile Bridge River Access
Take out on river right just upstream of the Nine Mile Bridge on Hyampom Road. This is also the put-in for the more difficult Lower Run.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a report700cfs estimate from Dreamflows.
Ted, Michael and I put on a beautiful spring day. If this was 750, I wouldn't have wanted to do it at 400, which Dreamflows has as the low flow mark. I wouldn't come back with less water.
Pretty, easy run. Not much rapids for the first half, then a few class III with recovery and one pretty intense IV Fraggle Rock that we portaged due to a huge log clothesline at the entrance river right. With more water the river left line around the huge boulder would go, either with a boof over the ledge or a sneak down the far left, but those weren't an option for us. Definitely scout this rapid from the road when you set shuttle, it's easy to see.