John Day, N. Fork

Our first time down the stretch. One gear boat and one kayak. Full on high desert spring weather - sunny and warm the first day, snow flakes on the last day. Spent 3 days on the water - day 1 had all the class IIIs which were very read and run, day 2 and 3 were a good pace of class II, riffles and flats. Some great bigger camp sites. Lots of other smaller ones. Not much for camps for the last 10 miles. Take out is easy to miss, kind of in the bushes on the right, right before a riffle/drop...hug the right shore after the bridge. No logs or other obstructions were seen by us. Didn't see another sole the whole trip - can't wait to do this one again.

We did a 3 day from Dale to Monument late In late March. Flows were about 2600@Monument. Tollgate to Monument ( Takeout is a park on river right about .25 miles below hwy bridge). In the future I’d do Camas creek into the NF, or possibly Middle Fork into NF. Camas Creek looked like a FuN 8-9 miles of steep class 3+ creeky action. Camped at ‘50mile’ on the left, and ‘27mile’ on the left. Nice, flat camps with hikes. Hiked Wall creek, middle fork confluence, and Mallory creek. Would hike maybe Potamus creek, and Johnny cake Mountain with more time. I’d suggest camping above Wall creek on last night, as a ‘busier’ road come into Wall Creek. Lots of down and dead wood for burning. Dirt road on river right for most of the trip. ‘Oregon River Tours’ by John Garren is a phenomenal resource.

Our group that included Thomas O'Keefe and Omar Jepperson in kayaks and Adrian Boloveschi and Chris Barnard in packrafts came planning to run the section above this one but were not able to access it due to snow coverage. We were able to arrange a driver at the Dale Store who took us up to Oriental Campground and we ran from there down to Monument over four days which was a very relaxed pace (we could easily have covered the distance on a 3 day trip). Flows hovered just above 2000 cfs which would be a great flow for intermediate paddlers or advanced beginners with appropriate support. I would come back and do this as a family trip. There are a few old ranch houses and newer vacation homes along river right but they are infrequent and did not detract from the overall experience. We found plenty of camping on both sides of the river. Campsite competition was a minor issue on Saturday evening as we approached the take-out and sought a spot upstream of Wall Creek. The take-out was busy on Sunday at noon with several trips taking off the river.

We arrived at the Camas creek put in on 5/22/2020 with 10k on the Monument gauge, a day after the big flood where it had hit 20k in only a matter of hours. Our party consisted of all experienced river runners and their kids in a raft and drift boat. The river was pushy and bank full at 10k and while there were eddies, it appeared difficult to stop safely at the upper camps - especially with a fully loaded drift boat. We decided to wait it out one day and found roadside camping that had not previously flooded just up stream from Surprise rapid. When we put on the next day, it had dropped to 7500 on the Monument gauge and was a much more comfortable level however still was pushy and challenging to land the drift boat at camps. Surprise was runnable on the far right at 10k but not at 7500. The rest of the rapids were great fun with big waves. The takeout boat ramp is tight for a lot of people especially at high water and folks were lined up holding on to bushes waiting for the ramp to clear.

Floated the N. Fork John Day from Dale to Monument on June 14-16, 2019 (see comment below). River level was 1350 cfs when we put on and 1100 cfs when we took out. At this level there are many nice Class II rapids that make for a fun family float trip. Not a problem for canoes and kayaks at this level, but the rafts had to be a little careful through the shallow sections and scraped bottom a few times on gravel bars. I'd say this was near or at the minimum level for loaded rafts.

We ran this section June 14-16, 2019. Great section of river - more forested so a bit cooler with summer heat. GREAT for kids - we ran this with a raft, a SUP and WW Canoe. Our four year old enjoyed running rapids sitting on the SUP (with adult paddling), in the canoe with an adult and hung out all over the raft. Campsites were easy to find and nice to use, length of days were also appropriate for that age.

River flooded at 28K cfs at the Monument Gauge on May 14-15, 2010. Had not flooded this high since 1997 (30K). Only other flood of this magnitude was in 1925. Due to flooding BLM river ranger/Grant County Sheriff did not recommend running river weekend of May 21-22, we did it anyway. Flows were approx 8.75 @ put-in and 8.5 at take-out. (Middle Fork was contributing 2K of this amount). 1 14' raft and 1 16' cataraft and 1 tandem canoe, mixed levels of experience among the boaters. No new debris encountered (somewhat surprisingly).
Campsites and their access were reasonable. No problems. Shuttle driver reported that a couple of fellas floated river at peak flow. I assume there were no problems for them. River appears runnable (and importantly, camp-able) at flows up to 15K or less. Open-canoeists can expect to regularly take-on water unless they sneak rapids.

The gage listed above is not the right one for the North Fork of the John Day. Look instead at

USGS 14046000 NORTH FORK JOHN DAY RIVER AT MONUMENT, OR

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?14046000

The river gets only slightly more difficult (3- in my estimation) for levels higher than the max suggested level on this page. The rapids mostly become washed out with larger waves, and the river becomes more continuous, making it harder to rescue a swimmer. We put in at 9,000 CFS (on Monument gage) and floated for 3 days taking out at about 5,500 CFS. Others in Paddle Trails Club have told me they have done similar levels in open canoes. At higher levels you have a chance of sneaking the rapid 'Surprise' on the right, but only if you recognize it in time and there is no wood. Both of those things happened to me in my kayak at 8,200 CFS but it is not much harder going right through the middle anyhow.

The take-out at Monument is about a quarter mile downstream of the the bridge, on river-right. Peer through the willows looking for a small boat ramp where there is now a nice parking lot with picnic tables and a toilet. Some guidebooks still tell you to take out at the bridge.

Paddle Trails Canoe Club members Chris Panks and Fay Chee