Crystal, North Fork
01. To Scree Slope
| Difficulty | V+ |
| Length | 0.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 12, 2012 |
River Description
The NF Crystal is a short and stacked run. You can hike your shuttle. Some of the best camping in the state can be done up here.
All wheel drive with a high clearance is required here, so have a big truck or know someone. You will come to a big pond after marble. From here you are basically looking up at Yule Creek, and the Crystal Inner Gorge is lurking in there. Drive up the awd road for quite a ways. You will eventually come to Crystal Mill Falls, get out and huck it a few times. Keep driving up the road to a fork, straight will take you to the punchbowls, left will go to N. Fork. Go all the way to the campground and your at the run.
Last few years wood has built up a bit, so we run the drops 1-5.
1- bumpy cascade with a boof or two.
2- 7 foot boof to 15 vertical. Stay left of center.
3- left or right slot drop immediately into another left/right slot
4- second slot
5- 10 foot boof
See Colorado Rivers and Creeks II, by Banks and Eckardt (The Bible), They describe this as a true hair run.
Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone.
See also Avalanche Creek to BRB Campground (Class III),
Crystal Mill Falls to before Crystal Gorge (Class III-IV(V)),
Penny Hot Springs to Avalanche Creek (Class IV+),
Redstone to Penny Hot Springs (Class V+),
Marble to Redstone (Class III-IV), and
above Beaver Lake (Class V+).
River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportJeremy Bailey on the right line. Approximately 550-600 cfs. Photo Credit Matt Haughee
Matt Haughee in a Black Fly open canoe
Matt Haughee doing the fade-away move on second drop of rapid 3.
Ten footer with an easy lead in and landing. There is wood about 50 yards downstream of this creating a river wide strainer before Rapid Five as of 07/13/14.
Matt Haughee finishing out his line on Icing. This rapid is a bit more difficult to play safety for (if there are only two boaters) as you can not see the boater until he is in the pool after the rapid.
last drop on a quick N. Fork lap. Below this lurks some very large drops.
This is short and stacked run. You can hike your shuttle. Some of the best camping in the state can be done up here.
All wheel drive with a high clearance is required here, so have a big truck or know someone. You will come to a big pond after marble. From here you are basically looking up at Yule Creek, and the Crystal Inner Gorge is lurking in there. Drive up the awd road for quite a ways. You will eventually come to Crystal Mill Falls, get out and huck it a few times. Keep driving up the road to a fork, straight will take you to the punchbowls, left will go to N. Fork. Go all the way to the campground and your at the run. Last few years wood has built up a bit, so we run the drops 1-5.
1- bumpy cascade with a boof or two.
2- 7 foot boof to 15 vertical. Stay left of center.
3- left or right slot drop immediately into another left/right slot
4- second slot
5- 10 foot boof