Umpqua, North

The LCCC, a paddling club based in Portland, travels the 3.5 hours to the Nump once per year, camping and paddling for 2-3 days in a row.  This year we were lucky in that even though the Cedar Creek Fire was burning one drainage to the north we had good air quality. Even luckier, local rains brought up the flows by about 50 cfs each day.

Our trip started with a Friday run from Boulder Flat to Horseshoe Bend.  The flow that day was about 850cfs, and we had some brand new members who were grateful to start out on the 'easier' section.   On Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th we paddled from Horseshoe Bend, at 900 and 950 cfs respectively.  This section is a delight at low water with clean lines, deep eddies, and lots of friendly play spots.

We had only one small raft in the flotilla, but also quite a few canoes and IK's to balance the preponderance of kayaks.

The largest rapid is Pinball and it follows on the heels of a drop called Alligator that tends to chomp on those newer to the river.  We had one swimmer at Alligator but knew to set a rope on river right below it.  Our newest paddler flipped at the top of Pinball and swam the whole rapid, saying at the bottom that it was so fun that he'd be willing to swim it again.

A summer trip on the North Umpqua. We put in at Horseshoe Bend and ran down to Gravel Bin with a stop for lunch and swimming along the way.

Tour of access sites with Tom O'Keefe and Priscilla Macy followed by a short run from Panther Creek down to Gravel Bin.

Not sure if the links above were supposed to go to the segment descriptions I think Teresa was referencing, but the BLM has 5 of them fairly well described such as her favorite-
https://www.blm.gov/or/districts/roseburg/recreation/wild\_and\_scenic\_river/umpqua\_river\_segment\_1.html

This would be more useful if each day stretch were listed as its own reach. I'm about to go there again as the LCCC does an annual N Umpqua weekend in the fall, and I'll take good notes. My favorite section is Boulder Flat to Horseshoe Bend for its beauty and for all the salmon that stack up there.

Hi,
My group ran from Boulder Flat to Gravel Bin on 07-25-15. It was a great trip other then the IK'er who flipped in alligator thus swimming the entirety of Pinball. The flow was only 748 cfs so he escaped with only a dislocated rib. Pinball is a solid class III rapid with some -IV tendacies at the right flow. While I don't personally find a lot of challenge in many Oregon rapids having learned to boat in Idaho and an OR class 4 being an Idaho Class 3 I still respect the rating given. We would all do well not to underplay the potential risk of a rapid leading less experienced boaters to not appreciate the rating of a rapid because someone with more experience thought it was easy.

This one of my all time favorite class 3 runs. Long season, great water quality, easy access and some fun class 2 & 3. My favorite range is 1,200 to 1,800cfs. The waves are bigger and the water faster and that seems to be optimum for the waves above the Gravel Bin take-out. That being said, I wouldn't pass up a chance at a August 800cfs trip either. Be sure to look for the couple of fun playspots a short ways below and under the first bridge below the Boulder put-in.

Running the right side at Alligator Wave.

Hello,

I ran from Boulder Flat to Horseshoe Bend and from Horseshoe Bend to Gravel Bin on July 31 and Aug 1, 2005, respectively. CFS was between 730 and 700. It's a lovely river.

I would disagree with the above comment on this site: 'Below 800: Class II all the way.' In my opinion, a number of rapids should continue to be considered Class III at the level I had, including: Boulder Hole, Weird Weir, Toilet Bowl and the Froggers, Eiffel Tower and Pinball. And there is plenty of other II+.

Kevin Coutts, President Vancouver Kayak Club, Vancouver British Columbia

Map Legend Map Legend

Camping is casual in the winter. Don't try this in August.