Quinault, North Fork

On 1/27/25, we hiked from the NF Quinalt River Trailhead about 6 miles to Halfway House camp, where we put on. The hike was stunning. Massive old growth Sitka Spruce, Cedar, and Big Leaf Maple were everywhere and draped in moss and ferns. Trail was well maintained and climbed gradually. We put on our drysuits to ford Wild Rose Creek as the stepping stones were spaced out and icy. The water was swift and about knee high. Could be challenging at high water.

Almost immediately after putting in just upstream of Halfway House Camp, we dropped into our first gorge of the day, 'Wild Rose'. The first drop was characteristic of most on the run, cascading down a class 3 boulder bar into a pool. After almost a half mile or so of gorgeous bliss, a massive log marked the exit. It was wedged between the canyon walls, 6 feet in the air. Unsure at what flows this log would pose a hazard.

After leaving the first gorge, the river opens up for about a mile with rolling mountain views. You pass Rustler creek as it comes in off the left. There are a couple of boulder bar drops in this section that slam into bedrock banks, creating some swift hydraulics.

Before you know it you are descending into the second gorge, 'Over/Under', which lasts about a quarter mile. This gorge also ends with a massive 5' in diameter log wedged from wall to wall. This log could be more problematic. At 1000cfs, the left side was at river level and the right side bowed up to create about 5' of clearance. Not sure how quickly that right side underpass would close up with more water. Upstream of the log the banks were pretty cliffed out. Log location: 47.6067955, -123.6158091

The next 3/4 mile opened up again as you pass Wolf Bar Camp on your right. Shortly thereafter, you enter the 3rd gorge, 'Sentinels', which contained a couple of the best rapids of the day! These felt like solid class 3's as you negotiate some large boulder rockfall. Massive old growth cedars tower overhead.

After leaving the 3rd and last canyon, the river starts to mellow out and braid. Wood is more prevalent. We had one mildly tricky portage. We continued on for about another mile before taking out where the trail nearly meets the river near a grove of maples growing in a dry cobble wash.

Flows were about 1000 cfs on the Quinalt River gauge at the Quinalt lake outlet. Level was very low. We had to get out and walk our packrafts on a few cobble bars. We butt scooted down a couple dozen more. The rapids were boney. But we appreciated the lower water while exploring a gorged in run with next to no beta. Would like to see it a bit higher next time.

A note of caution on the gauge readings. The gauge is measuring the outflow of Quinault Lake. On a rising gauge during rain or snow melt events, the inflow could be dramatically higher than the outflow readings. The lake acts as a giant dampener.

We look forward to going back this summer to explore the section from Kimta Creek to Halfway House. The only information we found on it were a couple obscure internet references to it being class III-IV in difficulty. Due to its cliffed in nature and its proclivity for gorge spanning wood, we are going to approach this section of river very cautiously.

Nick Boguslaw and Ariel Leigh