Price
02. Price Canyon (Picnic area above Price Canyon to Castle Gate)
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 7.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Price River Near Heiner, Utah |
| Flow Rate as of 8263 days | 37 cfsstale data |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 15, 2025 |
River Description
The Price is generally a low water run with several manmade and natural hazards. The river is primarily roadside, although it is down considerably from the road, so hiking out would be a pain. Scouting can be done from the road for the most part; check for wood. The majority of the river consists of rocky drops and small ledges. Most of these are in general straight forward in their lines. The major dangers on the Price are the possibilities of strainers, human debris (rebar), and some dams near the end of the run. The water can be gray or white from upstream runoff.
There is an initial rapid right below the putin, then some class II, with a scenic meander away from the road. After crossing under an underpass that puts you back along route 6 (although well below it), the pace picks up with fun drops that get busier as you go. The difficulty increases and stays in the IV range for several miles. If its not scrapy-low then you will have a few miles of great rapids and drops. A big culvert is on the left a ways before the crux, although it can be missed, since there are a few miles that kinda look the same. There are not big eddies above the crux, so if you want to bank scout or portage, be sure you know where it is. To bank scout, around MP225 look for a turnout either upstream or downstream of the crux (MP 226), and walk a hundred yards to see it.
From the putin it is about a 6.5 mile drive to mile post 227 for the takeout. This is about an 7.5 mile river float.
The bridge over the river at MP 227 is a good spot to takeout. There is a large turnout across the road for parking.
In 2024, I ran this section 4-5 times and did the takeout at MP 227. I saw one manmade hazard that could potentially be a problem. Scouted it the first time and never an issue after knowing how to proceed. The water heading into this hazard is slow with a big eddie and it marks the transistion into more challenging water. I will post a photo in the gallery. No other
...River Features
Put In
Putin rapid
This is a lite sample of bigger stuff on the second half of this river.
bridge takeout
6.2 road miles. A popular takeout with lots of parking room on the south side of the road in an old turnout. Avoids a diversion drop that is said to have metal in it, down lower.
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThis is a photo of the river hazard to watch for. The lead in is slow and very easy to scout. Looking upstream at the metal barrier. Boof the obvious channel.
39.808824, -110.941725
First time on this stretch of the Price river. The flow at the putin is less than what is reading on the Heiner gauge. Over the next several miles the water volume increses with small feeder runoffs and gets faster. The first 4 miles is pretty chill and beautiful class II-ish. The second 4 miles are continuous class III and IV. Any flips would be challenging to recover from as the water is fast and waves/drops are continuous.
There was one strainer about mile 7.5, a willowy tree extending half way across the river. There is an eddy right before it where you can scout it.
Really fun and adventurous section. We scouted about several times when we couldn't see the bigger drops very well.
CFS of 244 seemed like a great flow to do this at. Did this at 200 cfs and scraped some, probably the lowest you can do the run.