Weber
07. Highway-89 to Riverdale
| Difficulty | III |
| Length | 7.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Weber River at I-84 at Uintah, Ut |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 153 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | June 19, 2024 |
River Description
This is a rather long stretch, about 8 miles, and can take quite a while at lower flows when its not moving fast. Putin below the Eggs takeout dam, for the full stretch. This dam is much safer than it used to be after it was reworked, which reduced the dangeous hydraulic, but you will still want to stay away from the dam hydraulic.
There can be heavy wood load on this stretch.
There are some fun wave trains below the I-84 on ramp bridge, which are almost-good surf waves, and can be caught at some flows. 1500-1700 has some fun wave trains. At the higher flows seen in 2011 (3000-4000+cfs), the river becomes so wide its hard to find the main channel, and gravel bars and log jams can move and change quickly.
The Unita bridge signals the main drop of this run, which is an unfortunate jumble of concrete rubble (the story goes that this was dumped in the river on purpose to keep kids from jumping off the bridge). This is a possible putin as well. Be careful where you park, and respect the abundance of no trespassing signs.
After the Uinta drop there are many class 2 meanders.
A footbridge over the river signals the approach of Slide One, which is usually good to go on the right. A little bumpy at 350cfs. At higher flows look for a surf wave across the top of this slide.
Slide Two follows shortly thereafter. This is a much steeper slide, and is probably the crux of the run. Wood has accumulated on this drop before, and a road scout or bank scout might be worthwhile. This drop is really fun once it pads out more. If you wanted to try out your kayak backpack, you could hike up the bike trail to these slides from the Riverdale disc golf course parking.
The disc golf course parking is another possible putin for a short run, and there is a little front surf wave just upstream from this parking area. Below the next bridge is a 3/4 riverwide tree that has fallen in on the right in 2014, with room on the left. That fallen tree marks the
...River Features
Put In - Highway US 89
Put In - Highway US 89
Take Out - Riverdale
Take Out - Riverdale
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportHave run this twice in the last couple weeks between the gravel pit and Riverdale wave and there have been several changes even in the last 3 weeks. The scaffolding is no longer a hazard. Many of the logs that have been there for the past decade are long gone. There are 2-3 near river-wide trees on left hand turns that are currently non-issues but could be at lower flows to watch for. Be alert in the section with a lot of houses between 84 and the Uinta Bridge. Uinta drop is mostly blown out right now. River-wide tree just after the defunct Pleasant Valley golf driving range that you will see coming. Easy bypass left. Slide 1 is blocked on the right but is still runnable- suggest running middle. Otherwise fun as always. 90 min at 2000 cfs. 105 min at 1250 cfs.
3 new river-wide trees as of 6/1/19. The first is 100 yards above the Uintah bridge. Eddy and portage river right. The other new trees are in the long, flat section between the toll road bridge and the powerlines. There is plenty of time to see these coming and both can be portaged on river right.
There is a gauge right at the put in for this run that should give a more accurate flow. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/uv/?site\_no=10136600&PARAmeter\_cd=00065,00060,62614,00010,00095,00400,00300,00045.
We ran this section on Aug 5,2017 and the flow here showed 377cfs, but I missed the disclaimer about the ~300cfs difference. We effectively ran this (in recreational kayaks) at 136cfs thinking it was 377cfs. We scraped along pretty much most of the way until we got past the Uinta bridge. Below that was better.
There were 3 places we had to take out to get around log jams.
We continued all the way to 24th Street in Ogden. All in all it was an 11 mile run. It was still fun, just be sure to check the proper gauge before deciding to do this run.