Vermilion

I looked at the river may 25th 2010, the river above the falls is in a deep canyon and cant be scouted from the road, from what I saw it was nothing but class two water with class six log jams all the way down it, I don't know why it is rated class four, besides the falls, Which i couldn't even get good pictures of. They are in a very narrow, deep gorge and I didn't want to try and climb any farther without some rope. on each side of the falls the gorge is very crumbley rock and footing is hard to keep. there is also a 'Fish Trap' (that looks a lot like a dredge) right at the bottom of the falls that spans 3/4 of the river. if the water was a little higher and the trap was gone it looks like it would be a great class 5 run.

top of falls, low water, it was only ankle deep below the falls

vermilion falls

As of 5/12/07, the Vermillion is reportedly stacked full of wood on the lower reaches. The upper portion of the canyon at Vermillion Falls is blocked by wood, and the lower canyon has lots of nasty wood as well, but is runnable for a ways. Most of the lower stretch is Class II with lots of portages - be prepared for a LONG day if you try to do the whole reach (from the headwaters down).