Trinity, South Fork

The South Fork Trinity is a sizable river system, and its lowermost section offers a great class II/II+ run with seclusion, scenery, an easy shuttle. The season is fairly long since this is at the bottom of the the free-flowing South Fork system.

Suited to all craft types, most rapids are straightforward and require little maneuvering. The first half of the run has a little more action than the second half. Some eddy lines get swirly and tricky for beginners at the higher end of medium flows.

Flows

This run is in at medium flows between 600 and 2,000 cfs on the gage at Hyampom. Features begin to wash out around 3,000 cfs at the gage, but the run is boatable well above this level. Because the Hyampom gage is far upstream, there will be more water in the river on this run than the gage reads.

Logistics

Put-in

The put-in for this run is also the take-out for the upstream Three Bears Run at the broken bridge/low water bridge. To get there from Highway 299 at the east side of the the bridge over the South Fork, turn south onto South Fork Road (County Road 447) and begin heading upriver. After four miles, turn right to stay on South Fork Road where Hennessy Road splits off straight ahead. After 1.3 miles, bear right again to stay on South Fork Road and heading in the upriver direction. Continue until you see a peach-colord sign for Escot Farms, about eight miles from Highway 299. Turn right here then stay left to descend to the river. Because the bridge over the river is 'broken' aka missing, there's a gate that blocks vehicle access at the end and you'll need to carry a short ways down to the water on the old roadbed.

Take-out

To do the full run to the Trinity River confluence, take out on river right just below the Highway 299 bridge over the South Fork Trinity. There's a path from the river to the parking area in a pullot along the highway on

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