Weber

We went less than a mile from aspen acres put in and experience 3 very dangerous riverwide barbed wire fences. We had to abandon the trip after the last fence went pretty badly for one of our group. A Resident informed there were up to perhaps 10 fences now days. (May not be legal but they're doing it anyway. At least up to the confluence.) Could have been a really fun section of river but very dangerous starting that high up given the fences.

Ran this at 920 cfs on June 15th. In the past I have run this same stretch at 1000 cfs and 750 cfs. I have only run this in a packraft. I typically put in at smith and morehouse creek  40°47'05.6'N 111°09'20.2'W and take out at the 'alternate take out' 40°44'07.7'N 111°15'08.2'W. You can also put in where East Weber Canyon Road crosses over the river 40°46'21.8'N 111°11'47.7'W to run the bottom 2/3 of the river, which is more difficult than the top 1/3. In my opinion, more water is much better here. A lot of the features that create fun drops/waves/holes are boney below 850cfs. At lower flows, a lot of the rock bars become exposed and the river can constrict to a smaller channel giving you less room to navigate.

Personally, this is my favorite stretch of whitewater close to SLC, and it's unfortunate that it has such a short window of good flows each year. In the 850-1000cfs range, the run is fairly consistent class 2 whitewater with a few class 3 wave trains and holes towards the end of the run. There is no real flat water. The good eddies are few and far between, but you can find micro-eddies that could fit a single boat along the banks. The river slowly increases in difficulty from top to bottom, so you can opt to just lap the bottom 2/3 of the river if you want more meat. Most of the action in this river consists of waves and holes that can be avoided at higher flows but are more fun to punch through. The bottom half of the river has a lot of shallow rock dams on river right, all of which are super fun drops at flows over 850cfs. In my experience850-1000 cfs is the ideal level to float this river.

Towards the last mile of the river, there are some quick turns in the river with a fair amount of wood piled up on the outside banks. You'll obviously want to hug the inside corners of the river here, but you will have plenty of time to react and plenty of room between you and the wood at these flows, just keep your eyes downstream. In the last mile there is also an abandoned cabin on river right that is slowly being eaten by the river. As of this year, the outer wall of the cabin has been ripped off and deposited along the outside of the next few banks. This cabin will continue to deposit more wood as time goes by, so just be cautious towards the bottom.

Lastly and most importantly, there is a mandatory low bridge portage. The low bridge is right here 40°46'28.6'N 111°11'40.6'W. There is another bridge right before it, with a good eddie on river right, right here 40°46'32.4'N 111°11'36.2'W. You can take out, walk the paved road on the south side of the river, and put back in just after the low bridge in a little tributary creek on river right, here 40°46'28.8'N 111°11'41.2'W. This is all on private property so please be respectful and don't dilly dally, though I've never been given a hard time here. This can all be avoided if you put in where East Weber Canyon Road crosses over the river and just float the bottom 2/3 of the river, which is immediately after the low bridge (coordinates given above).

In summary, if you're confident in class 2/3 and want to paddle whitewater then I would highly recomend this stretch, but only over 750 cfs. I can't speak for what it would be like at lower flows, but I'm guessing it's more shallow and less fun.

We did this at 678cfs May 28, 2024. 5 packrafts. We had 5 intermediate/beginner kayakers on this river and it was very intense. The white water was really fun and not the issue but the wood avoidance was. Right near the abandoned cabin flooded on the river there is a very large tree down and strainer that is avoidable if you stay left. If not, bad news. There are other wood avoidances that are very tricky and flipped a few of us. This was a serious issue as there are very few pools to collect yourself. This is not a section of river to flip in. Very competent class II paddlers are recommended. Just after Pinion Bridge and after the diversion dam rapid that a lot of people portage is the 'log ledge' thingy another commenter posted about. Portage this log ledge spot, or take out at Pinion Bridge if you don't want to portage twice in a short amoutn of time... or do not flip. Had I known to look for it after the Pinion Bridge I would have scouted a take out and took out there. This was way-way harder than the Henefer to Tagarts section even though it is rated the same. It is because it is such continuous Class II and some high consiquence swims with the strainers/wood. Highly recommend you avoid this section unless you are very familiar with the river and are very competent paddler. We portaged the diversion dam. It was ripping and looking runnable staying right floating over some shallow rocks but the main wave/hole was quite scary and looked like it would recirculate you quite a bit. We read about some metal and concrete but didn't see any. Overall very difficult day for us.

We parked at the Beaver Springs Ranch pullout without issue. The pedestrian gate was open and we talked to land owners who had no issues. We walked down with our boats across the bridge to a narrow pedestrian access point in the fence and a trail leading to an eddy. The bridges were totally floatable and we werent required to portage the two 'mandatory' portages at our CFS. At higher levels though for sure need to portage. Another commenter put in at the E Weber Canyton Road bridge down river from Beaver Springs. I recommend doing that to avoid private property. I have no idea on parking in this area for the put in here. Beaver Springs was okay though and land owners seemed inviting.

This section has some really fun water followed by some very serious conciquence swims and challenging wood avoidance. Losing a paddle or a boat to a swim will take a very long time to get back with a lot of help from your friends. Extremely challening. I wish I knew to avoid this section until I went with someone that really knew the river. I don't understand how lower flows avoid the rocks because at 678cfs butt-scooted a lot of rocks. Stick to the main channel always. I hope this comment helps!

River was in good shape, lots of different channals at high flow. Stayed in the main channel and had little wood issues. There are sections where if you were to be swimming wood could be a problem. One low bridge, We portaged, there is a small eddy above it and between the concrte wall and the bottom of the bridge there is a sneak. At raft would have issues. Good clean run. Big waves. 1400 cfs,,,

Ran on 5/26 around 850-950cfs in the afternoon. Excellent small/medium wave trains and continuous fun. A few good eddies. Most of the man made rock bars are runnable at this level but some are manky and could have rough landings. Diversion dam below Pinion Lane creates a LARGE hole and should be scouted or portaged. I ran it but felt the tractor beam pulling me back in. Scary! One mandatory portage on a river-wide 'ledge' just upstream of the final diversion dam for the Kamas irrigation canal due to log jam (sieves, strainers, etc.). Would recommend running from the bridge at 40°46'21.7'N 111°11'46.3'W to the bridge at Pinion.

Ran @450 cfs on 5/16/21. 2 playboats and 1 SUP. Bumpy with some fun class 2 wave trains. A handful of small 1-2 kayak eddies but otherwise very continuous class 2 boogie water. None of the man-made waves were in at this level. Took out at this picnic area (https://goo.gl/maps/2T6ijEUmRhusdPPA8) although this would be very difficult take out at higher water.

Was on this section on 5/19/20, portaged one low bridge- https://goo.gl/maps/hPeAaXSuNQbF6MWn7
and all of the diversion dams at higher (1000+) water level. Following previous comments, below or at Smith and Morehouse is mandatory for putting in, there are still 5 to 6 fences below Aspen Acres until right above the SM confluence. It is confusing and dangerous, because with all the 'do not trespass' signs everywhere Aspen Acres is the only clear river access point that is marked. Interested to see if anyone is working on this access issue?

Ran this on May 2, 2020 around 500 cfs. We put in about a mile downstream of the Smith and Morehouse confluence after running into a landowner and obtaining permission. There were no barbed wire fences. There are a two diversion dam drops after you exit the canyon and get close to Oakley. All runnable at this level (class 3 ish). There was one obvious and easy tree portage less than a mile from the takeout, then the final diversion dam portage.

Very pretty run, especially the middle section through the forest.

Currently 1 barbed wire fence down between Aspen Acres put in and the NSF campground take out. Bridge portage at RR ranch area. River in good shape.