Lewis, N. Fork
4. Cussed Hollow to FR 9039 (Middle)
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 8.3 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 39 fpm |
| Gauge | Lewis River Above Muddy River Near Cougar, Wa |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 923 cfsrunnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 2, 2023 |
River Description
This is a great run for IKs and kayaks, and it's an excellent run for self-supported overnight trips. The first 4 miles are utterly gorgeous with class III whitewater and one or two class IV's depending on flow.
You can boat scout everything until Big Creek Gorge – when you see a big gravel bar on the left and a headwall on the right curving hard left, land on the cobbles and scout left. Big Creek Gorge has a tricky entrance that throws boats into the right wall, then a crux consisting of several large boulders with tight slots that can catch logs. It deserves a class IV rating even at low flows and is probably class V at higher flows. Kayaks can run this in sections and portage left as needed, though portaging is more difficult when the left side rock bar is under water. Those who know ahead of time that they don't want to run it (and can recognize it in time) can land early on the right and climb up to the Lewis River Trail, then drop back down to the river below the rapid. Rafts will have a significantly harder portage, so pack light and leave lots of time.
Below Big Creek Gorge, the rapids calm down significantly. You may want to combine this with the 4.5 mile run down to the Eagle Cliffs Park at the head of the reservoir. There are several nice rapids and great views of waterfalls.
Logistics: The take-out for this run is at the FR 9039 bridge which is accessed by going to FR 90 mile 20.6, turning on FR 9039 and heading 0.6 mile down this unpaved road to a bridge across the river and a trailhead downstream river left; it's a little easier to get out on river right. An advantage of using this trailhead as your take-out is you can do a bike shuttle on the trail that follows river right for a multi-sport adventure.
Many just continue on downstream to the next run (which is a short addition) and take-out at the Eagle Cliff Park Recreation Area at the head of Swift Reservoir. This recreation site, maintained by PacifiCorp with bathroom, pa
...River Features
Forest Road 90 Bridge, Put-in
The put-in is on the upstream river right side of the Forest Road 90 bridge where a short trail leads to a dispersed campsite providing easy river access. An alternate access is available on the downstream river left side of the bridge although the Forest Service signed this area as no parking in 2020.
Basalt Wall
An impressive basalt wall on river left marks the approach of a fun ledge drop. You can hop out on river left for a quick scout.
First Gorge
A short gorge with four rapids stacked together. Shortly after this series of rapids the trail comes down to river level and parallels the run on river right offering several opportunities for camping for those on an overnight trip.
Ledge Drop
A fun ledge drop
Big Creek Gorge
Big Creek gorge is 1/4 mile long section of large boulders with narrow chutes in between them. The slots between boulders are not all visible from the upstream end of the rapid and wood blocking a slot is always a potential hazard. It takes time to scout the whole sequence from river left. Skilled and confident boaters can grab eddies on the left and scout each segment. Those who are not interested in running the rapid can climb up to the trail on river right to portage.
Forest Road 9039 Bridge, Take-Out
Take-out parking is available at the Curly Creek Falls Trailhead on the downstream river left side of the Forest Road 9039 Bridge. You can hike up under the bridge on river right. Another access is available immediately downstream of the rapid under the bridge on river right.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportJune 15-September 2 parking reservations are required from recreation.gov in the map shown
We ran from Cussed Hollow (Crab Creek) to Eagle cliffs at 1080 cfs 5/31/25, three packrafts and one hard shell. It was a low flow, the gravel bars were running a little thin but still plenty of water to scoot down otherwise.
Big creek gorge was clear of wood. There were lots of backpackers camping along the Lewis River Trail.
On a spring break trip to Cougar we had a chance to do this run at 800 cfs and 1000 cfs. The rapids were a little more filled in at 1000 cfs. Big Creek Gorge was clean and good to go aside from some wood in play in a couple of spots along the right.
On a spring break trip to Cougar we had a chance to do this run at 800 cfs and 1000 cfs. Both were fun 800 cfs was on the low side. All the rapids were still fun. There were half a dozen gravel bars we had to bump down at the lower flow. These were a little less bumpy at 1000 cfs. Big Creek Gorge was clean and good to go aside from some wood in play in a couple of spots along the right. We tried the mountain biking trail on river right but encountered quite a few trees across the trail and a lot of hike-a-bike. We saw a group hiking the trail with a chainsaw, cutting out logs as they went, so it may be clear later in the season.
We ran this Saturday June 13, 2020 at about 1000cfs. This is about as low as I would go--the cobble bar rapids are getting bony at this flow and I do not want to see what they become at 800. Big Creek Rapid is still a serious rapid at this flow but it does not have any wood that stopped us from running it. There is wood in an eddy on river right in the entrance. There is an underwater log bridging the channel leading into the crux. As long as you're in your boat at that point it's not a problem and a twig helps mark your line. There is a giant woodpile down below the rapid, same as always.
We ran this on 5/27/2020 at about 1500 cfs. Very fun level, some large hydraulics in the early rapids, but overall what I'd call a medium flow. Our group elected to portage Big Creek Gorge on the trail on river right. From the left gravel bar, a quick look with the binoculars showed some wood in the water just after the entry pinch. We did not have time to thoroughly scout the gorge so elected to move along with expediting the portage up to the trail that follows the river along this entire segment. From the right gravel bar, cross the small side channel and bushwhack up to the main trail. From here it is several hundred yards of ups and downs on the trail before a small side trail appears to lead you down to the river. From here, the rapids never exceed Class 2. There is one river-wide log below Big Creek that can be easily portaged left or paddled right with a log-hop.
For 1st timers, you cannot scout Big Creek Gorge from river right. Stop early on the right and consider sending one or two strong paddlers across to the left to take a look. The ferry over and back isn't a gimme at some levels and having someone blow it and end up swimming or running the Gorge when you really didn't want to might not be good. I was on a trip when someone swam the first half of the gorge - mostly underwater - and popped up in an eddy full of loose wood. I have heard similar spooky stories that fortunately turned out OK, so this is not one to boat scout. If the first half of the gorge is runnable, but it's clogged up at the end, there are eddy-hopping and portaging options in the gorge, sometimes including an opportunity to climb up to the trail from a right-side eddy (not easy, but we've done it).
Brian and Shaun run one of the many little splashy rapids at the beginning of the run.
Big Creek Gorge on the North Fork Lewis.