Wilson

3/26 and 3/26 Low Water Jones to Cedar

I was told 1100cfs was a reasonable minimum flow for this river, but that turns out to be incorrect. The section downstream from Jones Creek Day use area is delightful well under 1000cfs. Both days we ran it in the neighborhood of 800-850cfs, and it was not too low. In fact, it is a lot more fun at 850 than it is at 1100. Now I know 1100 is a dud flow; the run is better both higher and lower than that. I don't know what the real minimum is, but 850 is great for kayak play.

There's a fine surf wave at the first rapid past the Forest Center bridge. We call this place Jive Junction because the wave is suited to the classic New Wave kayak called the Jive.

The wave in the middle of Hollywood Rapid is a perfect spot for skillbuilding, with good eddies on both sides. You can glide across the wave in either direction and land in an eddy to do it again, or try your hand at surfing. This same wave is amazing at 2500cfs.

The gorge above the Footbridge access is loaded with play potential as well, meaning you could do just this short run and walk the shuttle on the River Trail. Or, if you want more river miles, it continues to be amusing and plenty enough water all the way to the access at Cedar Ridge Road, just a couple rapids past the Jordan Creek confluence.

We were glad we had half slices and we were glad we stuck around when everybody else went elsewhere.

The BAD NEWS: The park & play surf wave/hole at MP 12 is GONE according to a paddler named James from Tillamook. He said a land slide on river right has dumped in a bunch of boulders that messed up the playspot.

The cobbles in the riverbed are indeed somewhat rearranged making several rapids different, but there is so much bedrock on this run that it's mostly unchanged. The flow of 1500cfs or 5.5 feet seemed in line with what that would have meant before the flood.

The gorge above Footbridge has a different wave hole at the narrowest point--it used to wait until higher water to form. You can sneak it on either side or punch it but it's there.

The two wall-shots in a row not far downstream from this point are likewise different--the cobble bars are piled higher, the channels seem deeper and quite boily.

We had just 3 of us and a gorgeous day, and thoroughly enjoyed getting back on this longtime favorite.

We paddled the Wilson Jan 11, 2026 at about 2,200 cfs. We put in at Jones Creek and took out at Milepost 12 for about an 11 mile run. We were warned at the put in that this would make for a long day and an exciting run through 'The Narrows'. This made us a little apprehensive as one person in our party needed to be back in the early afternoon and we knew the pinch at the Narrows gets powerful at some flows, but figured we could scout and if it was really bad just portage it. Turns out the Pinch in the Narrows was not in play, and we finished with plenty of time (there was a raft so we didn't play around much) -- The first part of the Narrows was III-III+ waves best run center-left, we then eddied out on the right to scout the pinch but found it to be a non-factor, not squirly or powerful at all, class II-II+. The Ledges around the corner were nice, large smooth waves at first, then a straight forward ramp with forgiving waves easiest center-right, III+. This was an enjoyable flow for the run overall, medium and class III other than the two above mentioned rapids.

Put-in at Jones Creek Campground (Smith Homestead)

Put-in at Jones Creek Campground (Smith Homestead)