Colorado

Westwater Ranger Station has a boat ramp, campground, pit toilets, and dumpsters for trash and recycling.

An electric air compressor is available for inflating rafts, and a water spigot is available in the warmer months.

A large camp. A network of 4WD roads and washes allows hiking into the desert beyond.

This is only about halfway through the upper section of flatwater, so camping here likely makes for a long second day.

A large camp, with a small sandy beach.

A faint use trail leads downstream along the water to a gully that makes it possible to hike up to a bench, though you might need to be pretty motivated to do that.

A large camp across the river from Little Hole.

Satellite imagery seems to show use trails from camp off into the desert beyond, and it's possible to ferry across the river to hike up Little Hole proper and visit some petroglyphs.

A large, popular camp with access to the Litttle Dolores River.

From here, it's possible to hike up the Little Dolores, with a waterfall to visit in the spring. There's also reasonable eddy service to the Little D surf wave.

A two-part rapid at the Little Dolores confluence.

There's a good play wave for kayaks in the second half.

A second large, popular camp with access to the Little Dolores River.

At low and medium water, access to this camp requires carrying gear across a brushy cobble bar and up a hill.

A small camp with a rocky beach.

Faint use trails seem to lead downstream along a chossy bench to a mesa, which is probably an unpleasant hike.

The first significant rapid in Westwater Canyon, Marble Canyon Rapid is a long wave train with a bend to the left.

Funnel Falls is formed by two boulders in the river. Left, center, and right runs are possible, depending on water level.

A two-part rapid, mostly two steep wave trains.

Skull is not a rapid to be taken lightly as it has been the site of some epic mishaps. While the move is relatively straightforward at intermediate flows, the consequences of a mistake can be severe (especially for rafts).

You'll recognize the rapid by a jumble of boulders that extends down to water level on river left, a steep wall on river right, and a distinct horizon line. The rapid can be scouted from the rocks on river left, but the scout eddy is small and immediately above the rapid, making it tough to peel out and line up correctly.

The key is to avoid Skull Hole (a definite raft flipper) and the Room of Doom below it on river right.

Breaking the left side of the entrance V-wave and continuing left works well at most water levels. In an oar raft, this works best as a downstream ferry starting center-right. In a paddle raft, this will require strong, carefully-timed forward strokes. In a kayak, it's splashy but not very technical. At flows below 2500 cfs, large rafts may need to consider other (wider) lines.

The Room of Doom is formed where a rock point protrudes out into the main current on river right. Most of the flow continues downstream to the left but a significant portion heads right into a rock alcove with a powerful recirculating current that prevents boats from accessing the main current. While you can potentially break the eddy fence, at flows much above 6000 cfs this becomes difficult for rafts (potentially fun for kayaks if you're looking for the experience of swirling around in a toilet bowl). There have been cases where groups have actually had to dismantle their raft and portage up over the cliff. This looks like it would be absolute hell.

The biggest wave train in Westwater Canyon, Sock It To Me has a great meaty wave-hole in it. It has a right-to-left angle, so hitting it straight requires starting from the right.

Line up, hit it hard, and hold on!

Last Chance Rapid is formed by a boulder in the center of the river.

At low-medium flows (3000-4000 cfs), left and right runs are both possible, but the right side is steep and bumpy.

A neat place to hike around and explore if you have time.

Big Hole is listed as a camp in some places, but has very little room.

A large camp, with pretty rock walls on both sides of a beach.

Use trails allow hiking into the desert beyond.

A large camp with a nice beach.

Cisco has a 3-lane concrete boat ramp with a sandy area on one side for de-rigging.

There are also pit toilets, dumpsters for trash and recycling, and a parking lot for overnight (or longer term) parking.

An optional lower takeout, if you want to paddle or row an extra 5 miles of flatwater.