Goulais
North of Searchmont
| Difficulty | III |
| Length | 6.4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 15 fpm |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 21, 2026 |
River Description
The Goulais is a fun class III river with a ledge and pool features and some I and II rock garden. It is mostly runnable in the spring.
Goulais River gauge, Canadian Real-Time Hydrometric Data
DIRECTIONS
- Take Hwy 17 north from the Soo.
- Turn right (east) on 556 toward Searchmont.
- At the intersectio n of 556 and 532, stay on the pavement, which is 532, going north. Note that 556 turns into gravel and goes east toward Ranger Lake.
- Cross bridge over Goulais and turn right (east) on Whitman Dam Road.
- Road turns to gravel at mile 2.9.
- 8.0 miles, see large waterfall.
- 8.2 miles, park on road at top of waterfall. It's hard to find, but if you walk back down the road, there is a pretty good trail to the falls. Wait until you see the obvious trail before hiking down.
- 15.5 miles is the road to the bridge take-out.
- 16.2 miles, is the alternate take-out at a small campsite where the road meets the river.
- 22.5 miles is the put-in, before you cross the bridge. It's obvious on your right.
River Features
Put In
The put-in is located at a bridge that crosses the river.
Island Rapid
First drop on the river after leaving the bridge. You can go either river right or left of the river wide island, but right is a bit shallow with about a 4' drop and a hard landing. Take the route left of the island. Scout from the hill on the left shore. Run center, then head far left to avoid a ledge.
2nd Rapid
There is a rock island in the middle of the river; you can go either right or left. Right can be shallow and not too difficult. Left is a drop over a 3 to 4 foot ledge. At tht bottom on the right is a pretty good wave to play.
3rd Rapid
Very similar to the 2nd rapid; a rock island in mid-stream and you can go either right or left. Right is shallow over a series of small drops and left is a 3 to 4 foot ledge.
4th Rapid
Just below the pool after the 3rd rapid. Mostly rock garden, which can be river scouted.
5th Rapid Top
There is a mid-river 'island', but at normal flows there is no water going river right. The river is headed toward the right, then takes a sharp turn left before a sharp turn right to go over a double ledge. This drop can be easily scouted from the 'island'. There is more than one line to drop down the 6 feet. There is about 200 to 300 yards of white water below the ledge.
5th Rapid Bottom
At the bottom of this white water section, the last feature is a river wide slide. River right is a bit different from river left. Regardless, it is a good place, and the last place, to play.
Rock Garden
About a mile of rock garden is below the last ledge. A lot of fun at higher levels and a pain as the river goes down.
Alternate Take-out
About a mile upstream from the bridge take-out, on river right as the river bends left, the road is just on the top of the bank. It's about a 10' climb up the bank. There is also a small campsite there often occupied by the locals. There is no white water from here to the bridge take-out.
Take Out at Bridge
Take out at old bridge across river.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportSeptember 28th 2016. Whitman Dam road IS repaired but a bit rough from Mile 19 to put -in @ 23.0. Ran upper Goulias section. Gage reading 7.73 and falling. Put in @ around 1:00 pm, a bit late as the final stretch of the river which is a VERY fun rock garden we were looking straight into the sun and had quite a few collisions with surprise rocks. Overall Very fun and doable but would like a bit more water. A few of the 2 stage drops were a bit boney on the second drop. Took out where river touches road at small camp spot on river right. Didn't take very good notes on each feature as it was our first time running this section.
Road washed out at 23.7 miles, which is above the put in. The road is also washed out below the put in at 19.6 miles.
Good level. On the lower end of perfect. There were a number of good play waves in addition to the ledge features.