Kings, N. Fork
Balch Afterbay to confluence with Dinkey Creek
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 1.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 130 fpm |
| Gauge | N Fk Kings R Abv Dinket Ck |
| Flow Rate as of 2 hours | 1.33 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 22, 2024 |
River Description
This is a super little section that is easiest to catch with flow in January or February when PG&E does maintanence on a downstream powerhouse. It can also flow at a reasonable level in the spring of a big water year.
Take-out is in Balch Camp at the confluence with Dinkey Creek. Most boaters will continue on down the NF Kings to the confluence with the main Kings.
Put-in: Drive up a paved road on the south side of the river towards Balch Dam. Just before the dam, there is a wide spot and a steep slope and gulley leading down to the river. It is loose and awkward and steepest just above the water. Consider lowering your boats with ropes. Alternatively, go a few feet past the gulley to a clean cliff dropping straight to the water. There are huge bolts in the wall on the left side of the road for anchors. The cliff looks around 200 feet high and the landing at the bottom is large enough to accomodate several boats and people. Rappelling and lowering down this cliff might be quicker and safer than going down the gulley.
Once on the water, you get a few eddies and a very short ways to warm up before the creek drops down several long steep rapids. Watch for logs! You can scout or portage, but it is very awkward because of thick vegetation.
The initial rapids end at a pool above a 25' (approximately) waterfall. It may be runnable and it does drop into a short pool.
Immediately below is a steep sliding cascade with a congested exit. I portage on the right, then cross the small pool to the left and finish climbing down on the left side. The portage is much easier on the right except that it is very difficult to relaunch into the river on that side. Check it out and decide for yourself.
After the portage, one immediately enters a
...River Features
Put In
Waterfall
There is nearly continuous class 5 whitewater from the put in to here. Fortunately there is a pretty good pool at the top of this falls. Granite slabs on river right allow an easy take out and portage around the falls. Many modern boaters might run the falls these days, but check the pool and runnout.
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThe Balch afterbay dam is releasing about 250 cfs into the river continuously because of some stuck valves. PG&E cannot repair the valves till October, so the flows will continue till then. 250 cfs is a low but okay flow for this section, I think. I walked along the road above and the parts that I could see looked boatable.
PG&E is also doing major road work several hundred yards from the dam. A big section of road slid out. There was no one working on the weekend so we were able to walk through the construction zone without any problems.
Getting down to the put in from the road looks as ugly as ever. Rapping off down a cliff would be the cleanest, but needs a long rope and anchors.
The poison oak that lines this section is not to be believed. Not mere vines or shrubs, these are absolute forests of poison oak, with trunks like trees.
Richard
Looking upstream from the bridge in Balch Camp, the NF looks full of trees. Fortunately this is the worst section of the run for trees. Tree hazards will change from year to year.
High flows spill over the Balch Afterbay dam into the NF Kings river. This is much too high to boat, but it sure makes a nice picture.
This gulley near the dam has been the standard put-in route. It is steeper than this picture makes it look. Kayakers can carry down it, but many will prefer to use ropes to lower their boats, especially in the last 30 feet to the river.
There is a staff gauge on the downstream river left side of the bridge over the NF Kings in Balch Camp. At the time of this picture the gauge read about 3.5 feet. Note that there are 3 seperate staff gauges in this picture. Two are clearly visible to the right of center, but a third for low flows is barely visible next to the rock in the lower left corner of this picture.
3.5 = ? cfs (very high)
2.8 = 650 cfs (medium high to high?)
2.3 = 300 cfs (medium to low?)
Looking through a short gorge at the one drop in the gorge and the bottom of the cascade above.
Still frame from video.
This two tiered slide is at the .exit of a short gorge. Several smaller slides follow.
This is the big waterfall which has not been run. We did not run it on any of my few runs and probably nobody else has caught this section since the early 1990's. The cascade which follows may be good for todays good boaters also, but the exit was very congested and so still may prevent a safe run.
Portage of the falls is very easy.
This rapid immediately follows the big waterfall. It gets steeper as it goes and then drops through some congested boulders at the end. We never ran it, but strong boaters will probably give it a look at least.
One can portage easily on the right almost to the end of the rapid where creativity will be needed to proceed. Alternatively you can cross to the left side where this picture is taken and continue the portage on that side