Elwha

Fascinating landscape to explore as a river comes back to life following a century behind a dam. There are plenty of wood hazards and unstable banks of sediment so proceed with extreme caution. Parking at the old reservoir boat launch and scouting from land is recommended and makes for an interesting excursion even if you have no plans to boat. Once you pass through the Goosenecks things start to clean up a bit. The canyon through the dam site is spectacular and the whitewater poses a stiff challenge. You can check this out before your run too. At lower flows it's a big and technical drop. Bring the creek boat--you will want the volume. Below here and all the way out to the ocean there is more wood in play. We were on it at 470 cfs which turned out to be a good flow for an initial look at things.