Elwha
1. Grand Canyon
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 10.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 70 fpm |
| Permit | A wilderness permit is required for overnight trips in the Elwha River valley. |
| Gauge | Elwha River at Mcdonald Br Near Port Angeles, Wa |
| Flow Rate as of 29 minutes | 1050 cfsrunnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 31, 2019 |
Projects
American Whitewater is proud to be a leading partner in the Wild Olympics Campaign, a collaborative effort to protect the wild rivers, ancient forests, and salmon habitat of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Working alongside conservation and recreation organizations, American Whitewater helped launch this campaign with the leadership of our local [...]Read More
River Description
SEASON: July through September
FUN FACT: Incredible canyon run through Olympic National Park
LOGISTICS: At mile 239.5 on Highway 101 take Olympic Hotsprings Road south through the National Park entrance. Continue 4.0 miles up this road and take the left-hand turn up to Whiskey Bend. As you proceed up this road you'll reach the historic Glines Canyon Dam site at mile 1.2 where you can walk out on to a remanant of the dam that provides a high vantage scout of Glines Canyon. Continuing up the road to mile 4.0, there is a trail that leads down to the exit from Rica Canyon and the historic start of the Mills Reservoir (marked with a small sign that reads, 'to Lake Mills'). This has been a popular take-out option for those who want to end their run with Rica Canyon although it requires a steep climb up a 0.4 mile trail. The road ends at mile 4.4 which is the trailhead. This trailhead is popular with horsemen so make sure you don't park in their unloading area and if you do see horses on the trail step aside and wait for them to pass. Park rangers have reported that horses have been startled by folks dragging their boats up the trail, so just take a quick rest break when you encounter them. The trail starts out fairly level for the first 1.9 miles to the Michael's Cabin. From there you have your first climb up and then it's level for a bit until you drop down and cross the Lillian River at trail mile 4.7. Once you cross the bridge you have to climb back up regaining most of the altitude you just lost in descending into the Lillian River Valley. The hike then levels off again for the last couple miles before finally dropping down to the river just downstream of Prescott Creek at trail mile 8.5. For those who want to taste the whitewater on a day trip, you can walk in to Rica Canyon. From the parking area, it's a 1.2 mile hike up to the junction of the Rica Canyon trail which heads 0.5 miles down to the river (put-in on the gravel bar when you reach the river)
...River Features
Put In
Goblin Gates
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThe sneak route (left) in Nightmare is plugged with a log. This is visible from the logjam in the drop above Nightmare.
Secret Chute is also plugged with a log. The next door to the left worked at low flow.
July 2004 Update, provided by Erik Schertzl
Four of us ran The Grand Canyon of The Elwha on Monday the 5th of July. We hadn't heard of anyone going through there since the floods of October. We were a bit concerned about new wood in bad places and changes to the rapids themselves. Between all of us, everything got run.
We were pleasantly surprised to find no bad wood in The Grand Canyon. There was some, but none that caused any problems. We guessed that a few rapids have changed, but it's hard to confirm as none of us had done the run prior. We're only able to go off pics from the internet and word of mouth.
All the lines appear to be standard. Nightmare was fine on the left (after some concern about running it blind & feeble attempts to scout). There is a very bad seive on the right side that none of us had ever heard of. It's ugly for sure. Most likely sneak the entrance on the left and stay there.
Rica Canyon has a major log-jam blocking the entrance at Goblin's Gate. There's a way around it. Hit me off line for that beta. Goblin's Gate Rapid has changed. No longer run the second ledge center; it's far right or left there.
If anyone goes through there in the next few weeks, please keep an eye out for a digital camera/case left up in the Grand Canyon by one member of our group. It should be on the right bank at the drop above Nightmare.
Unfortunately, the floods of Oct didn't change the hike in (making it shorter?). It's still a push (but beautiful). What an amazing run!
These are new high water logs just above Nightmare. They provide a glimpse into the entry of Nightmare. You still can't see the whole rapid. Don't slip.
We found scouting Eskimo Pie on the left to be quite easy. The right side eddy/scout would be sketchy. You could still ferry over to river right if you felt the need to portage. Shane is parked in an eddy on river right, after successfully running the drop.
There's only one way to run Eskimo Pie......right through the meat of a river-wide hole. There's a possible sneak on river right, but that had it's issues as well. Kato made this one look easy.
This is at the confluence with Lillian River. Most people who stop here, will peer into the tight canyon with 'that' question in mind. Hmmmmmmm....does it go?
This is the entrance to Rica Canyon where the river falls away to a bedrock gorge that is hidden from
upstream. There is a nice-sized eddy on the left (with lots of logs in some years).
This is the first rapid at the entrance to Rica Canyon. It's difficult to scout but there is a good recovery pool at the bottom.
The second major drop can be scouted from the right. Sneak it on the right by running the Secret Chute and then work your way over to the left, or run the meat down the center.
The final major rapid and longest in Rica Canyon. Start center and then run the final sequence along the bedrock wall on river right. You can scout or portage from the left.
The entrance rapid to Rica Canyon. This rapid is challenging to scout but You start right and then move your way to the final plunge on river left. At this final ledge you'll want to line up for a left to right move to boof the flake on the right side of the left chute and clear the hole at the end--or hang on for a wild ride through the hole.
This is the view looking back upstream towards Goblin Gates. The final ledge has a hole on far river left, but there is a flake on the left side of the midstream boulder that you can boof with a good left to right move coming into the drop.
The final section of the second significant drop in the canyon. The entrance requires you to paddle
through a meaty hole in the center or you can take the Secret Chute on the right.
This is the final major drop in Rica Canyon and the longest. You'll work your way over from the left side to pound through some ledges and holes along the bedrock wall on river right.
The entrance to Goblin Gates at the start of Rica Canyon.
Geyser Valley between Rica Canyon and Grand Canyon of the Elwha.