Piru Creek

Pyramid Run on Middle Piru by Paul Macey

Background

The Pyramid Run on Piru Creek is approximately three miles of whitewater below Pyramid Dam to Frenchman’s Flat. On December 19 and 20, 2019, a group of 10 paddlers ran Pyramid at 300 and 200 cfs, respectively, as part of a flow study required for the relicensing of the South SWP Hydroelectric Project. The results of this flow study will contribute to efforts to secure future scheduled flows for this reach. The study’s original focus was Middle Piru Creek from Frenchmans Flat through the Wild and Scenic section to Lake Piru. But American Whitewater, the National Park Service, and local paddlers including Rick Norman thought it worth checking out the short section below the dam too. There was a belief it might have some good Class II-III whitewater we could use for teaching beginners and intermediate paddlers. There were several agencies involved, but from the perspective of the paddlers this meant we had water, road access and shuttle drivers, and some surveys to fill out.

Despite being only three miles long, this section has several distinct way points, including Locations 1 through 6 as marked on this map developed by the project team.

Just below the bottom of the dam is Pyramid Pool (no boaters allowed), and 50 meters downstream is what some paddlers used as their top put-in, easily and safely accessed from a right-bank fishing trail, that is generally not accessible to kayakers. 200 meters beyond is the Pyramid Dam Bridge, with the “official” access point down the rocks river right (Location 1). Adit Bridge and causeway (Arizona crossing) follows at about 1.5 miles (Location 2). Red Gauge Drop is at just under 2 miles (Location 3), with another access point a quarter mile or less downstream (Location 4). Here you find an easy trail down from the road, leading to the bottom of what we call 'Rebar Alley,' where just above lie remnants of the reinforced concrete

...