Wooley Creek
Forks of Wooley Creek to Bridge Creek(Upper Wooley)
| Difficulty | III+(IV) |
| Length | 5.4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Salmon R a Somes Bar Ca |
| Flow Rate as of 27 minutes | 778 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 22, 2025 |
River Description
The uppermost reach of Wooley Creek is deep within the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area. It is even more remote than the sections below and boaters rarely--almost never--venture this far into the wilderness to paddle here. Yet, it is still possible to paddle even further upstream on the North Fork of Wooley Creek.
The run below the confluence of the North Fork and mainstem Wooley has been done by rafters, kayakers, and inflatable kayakers coming on foot from both the downstream and upstream directions.
This run is so little known that you'll be hard-pressed to find a boater who has run it and could tell you more. Dean Munroe's pioneering commercial raft trip on Wooley Creek in 1984 put in a mile below the North Fork confluence at Bear Skull Camp. This is an alternate access if, for some reason, that extra mile hike to the forks is too much.
The run is reported to be generally Class III; however, there is one Class IV+ rapid, Úynaam, about one mile downstream of Bear Skull Camp in the vicinity of the confluence of Deadhorse Creek.
The specific locations and difficulties of individual rapids and the run's flow range are uncertain, though boaters have reported that the more commonly run section of Wooley Creek from Wooley Camp to the Salmon River is more difficult than this reach. Consider that if flows are good (medium range) this far up in the drainage, that they may be high in the downstream gorges.
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Additional Info
River Features
Forks of Wooley
There is no developed put-in here. To reach the river, you'll need to hike a short distance off-trail.
Úyanaam
This large rapid near near the confluence of Deadhorse Creek is the only one of its size between the forks of Wooley Creek and the gorges downstream of Wooley Camp. It is a bedrock rapid with two channels. The river right channel is the 'sneak' an is separated from the left channel by a large bedrock fin. The rapid can be scouted and/or portaged on river right. Úynaam is the Karuk name for the traditional spear-fishing site located on Wooley Creek. It features a bedrock shelf rapid that created a seasonal barrier to fish migration (helping to separate the spring Chinook from the genetically distinct fall Chinook). At some point, the U.S. Forest Service blasted the bedrock at Úynaam to facilitate easier passage for fish, to the detriment of the fishing site and the unique genetics of spring Chinook, which now cross-breed with fall Chinook since the barrier no longer provides physical separation. (Bloomer Falls on the mainstem Salmon River was similarly blasted by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1982.)
Fowler Cabin
The Fowler Cabin is a historic hunter's cabin near the confluence of Bridge and Wooley Creeks. It's an option as a place to stay on an overnight trip and boaters have stayed here on unintentional overnight runs of Bridge Creek. Others use the cabin too. It was recently maintained by the US Forest Service and volunteers and has, somewhat miraculosuly and with great effort, survived recent wildfires.
Bridge Creek
Bridge Creek is the end of this section of river--a somewhat arbitrary determination--but it almost certainly isn't a take-out in the sense that any boater who has hiked in to Wooley Creek would voluntarily choose to end their run here and hike back out. The reason the section break is at Bridge Creek it because 1) some boaters enter Wooley Creek via paddling Bridge Creek and 2) some boaters hike up the Wooley Creek Trail to put-in at Bridge Creek. Boaters who have been paddling Wooley Creek upstream of Bridge Creek will almost certainly want to continue on Wooley Creek, which does not increase in its difficulty level until downstream of Wooley Camp, another couple of miles downstream. For packrafters seeking to hike in, paddle Wooley Creek and hike back out without boating the more challenging lower gorges, the logical point to take-out of the creek and begin the return hike is at Wooley Camp.
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