Feather, Middle Fork
3. Milsap Bar Bridge to Lake Oroville(Bald Rock)
| Difficulty | V+ |
| Length | 7.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Feather River at Merrimac |
| Flow Rate as of 2 hours | 573 cfsrunnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | June 8, 2022 |
River Description
History:
Bald Rock Canyon is a legend in California whitewater history, and exaggerated stories of its challenges abound. Reading the first descent account in Holbeck and Stanleys 'Best White Water in California' is enough to set any first time descenders nerves on edge. The dam builders have claimed the North Fork and the South Fork but the Middle Fork remains a wild river all the way down to Oroville Reservoir where the three forks of the Feather come together. The MF Feather was one of the charter rivers designated Wild and Scenic after the enactment of the policy .
In October of 1968, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act pronounced,
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.
The entire Middle Fork downstream from the confluence of its tributary streams one kilometer south of Beckwourth is protected under the act, broken down as: Wild — 32.9 miles; Scenic — 9.7 miles; Recreational — 35.0 miles; Total — 77.6 miles.
The Run:
The Bald Rock Canyon run is a true classic with outstanding scenery and a nice mix of beautiful slides and drops through a Sierra granite landscape. Come prepared for t
...River Features
Put In
Atom Bomb Falls
Atom Bomb Falls is the source of much fear and intimidation amongst first timers on Bald Rock. The story of the original first descent portage in Holbeck and Stanley's guide provide no reassurances what so ever. The reality is somewhat different these days, and, provided moderate flows the portage and 'death ferry' provide no really obstacle to these qualified to paddled this run. Large rapids amongst even larger boulders are a sign of the approaching portage and a pool is exited to the right shore so that boats can be carried around the first tier of the drop and the ferry begun. The ferry is relatively undramatic (<1000cfs) and the eddy to catch on the far shore better than historically reported. The portage then continues easily along the left hand shore along bedrock until boats can be lowered down ledges to the river again. Some paddlers have found a line to paddle the first tier hard left, smearing the bedrock slab with a large boof. Work the logistics of this one out for yourself if you fancy your chances.
Curtain Falls
Curtain Falls is a super clean 30' river wide granite ledge waterfall. The generally accepted standard line is to start right of a midstream boulder following a feature visible in the submerged bedrock called 'The question mark' (due to its shape). This leads you faithfully over the blind roll off of the ledge to a hopefully safe landing. In general the current tries to move you left harder than expected and slight right boat angle is needed to nail the ideal line which falls off the right side of the smooth central tongue with a pencil or late boof, your back!, your choice!.
Super Slide
A long low angled slide, Super Slide, accelerates water into a large sticky hole but this can be easily avoided by driving up onto the slabs on the far left.
Three Doors
Three Doors, one of the largest rapids of the run has a fierce hole halfway through which at some flows can be cheated on the left around a low angled slab. and a second fierce hole at the very end. Sieves wait below the first hole for a beaten and unlucky swimmer so good safety needs to be set here, and the last drop forms a notoriously sticky hole against the right wall which could once be cheated left, but as of April 2007 the cheat is reported gone and has been the scene of bad swimmer recirculations. This rapid is best portaged left against the cliff face rather than at water level.
Four Deaths
Perhaps the largest rapid of the run is Four Deaths. This rapid, named allegedly after Lars Holbeck claimed to see 4 separate places where you could die in it, is long and burly with shallow rock lurking in many places. It finishes with accelerating water down a low angle slab towards a remarkable tubing standing wave feature caused by a right side boulder and then ends abruptly with a large fearsome looking hole. Some people seal launch in on the right running only the second half of the rapid, others ferry right after scouting left and portage the whole affair.
Bald Rock Dome Trail
A steep trail ascends Bald Rock Dome river right here and could be useful for emergency access/egress. See this website for more details.
Take Out
Fall River Confluence
The confluence with the Fall River (possibly into the lake depending on water level). Upstream lies a spectacular waterfall.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportAs of May 2007, the Milsap Bar gauge is reading 200 to 300 cfs lower then what the river seems to be running, based on good guesses by local boaters. How this will play out through June is unclear. Probably it means that Bald Rock will be runnable later into the summer than the gauge suggests. June boaters, please post your experiences here, so that we can figure this out. Thanks, and happy paddling.
River level view of the final drop of Atom Bomb Falls.
This rapid is several drops above Atom Bomb Falls. Typical drops in Bald Rock Canyon involve large boulders that obscure the downstream view.
More great scenery
Scouting Curtain Falls.
Horizon Line of Curtain Falls
Granite Dome over Bald Rock Canyon
Jay Ditty on Lake Oroville with Granite Dome above
Jay Ditty scouting in Bald Rock Canyon
Smooth Slide leaving Curtain Falls
Campsite on portage of Atom Bomb Falls
Steindorf launching a boof in Bald Rock Canyon
This is the Crux obstacle in navigating Bald Rock Canyon. It is near impossible to scout the falls as parts are extremely well hidden from view. Both routes of portage contain significant objective risk
Feather Falls, Seventh highest Falls in US high above the Middle Fork of the Feather
Excellent Boof low in Bald Rock Canyon
Demonstrating the proper line by pointing to it with the right paddle blade.
Eric Nies takes a slot with impressive background scenery
One of the many impressive rock features in Bald Rock Canyon
Beautifu smooth white granite in Bald Rock Canyon
Upstream View of the start of the Left Portage at Atom Bomb Falls. Running the spout may be the safest approach to the portage, as failing to make it onto the wicked slippery flat rock will run you through some big sieves. That being said, all the water in the pool here disappears into sieves, a realization that became very apparent when we swam across the pool.
AW advocate, Dave Steindorf heads downstream into Bald Rock Canyon.
Ryan McGrath starts the Atom Bomb Ferry, a trivial and scenic affair at this flow.
Taylor Robertson, Josh Bechtel, et al head downstream after a leisurely lunch at Atom Bomb spent cliff jumping
Keith Kishiyama running Curtain Falls, Bald Rock Canyon
Macy Burnham boofing the frightening hole in Three Doors at ~600cfs
Macy Burnham in the upper half of Four Deaths, Bald Rock Canyon
Keith Kishiyama about to ride the tubing wave in Four Deaths to exit left over the huge terminating hole
The Worlds Greatest Campsite on the Bald Rock Canyon Run
Early in Second Day