Little White Salmon
Willard to Columbia River
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 4.3 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 217 fpm |
| Gauge | Little White Salmon River at Willard Nat'l Fish Hatchery Near Mill a |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 1 cfs |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 13, 2020 |
River Description
The Little White Salmon is a highlight of Pacific Northwest creeking. This stunning run offers an incredible array of rapids, with everything from steep complex boulder gardens to dramatic vertical drops, all set in a pristine canyon filled with sparkling translucent blue water. The Little White has an incredible runnable season, and can be run at any time of year most years.
Below the putin bridge, a short class II-III section leads quickly into Gettin' Busy, a half-mile long class V boulder slalom that becomes a pounding hole-fest at higher water, but offers eddies at lower flows. At the end of Gettin' Busy, the tricky Boulder Sluice awaits. This ledge is best run far left.
Some fun boulder gardens lead quickly into Island, a steep boulder jumble that can be run center or center-right, or portaged on the right. This drop gets seriously manky at the lower limits of flows. After more fun boogie water, the ledges start to appear. First comes 10-foot Sacriledge, with a hazardous cave (Dave's Cave) under the left wall. Double Drop is next, a straightforward pair of 5-foot ledges, with a lava tunnel on the right.
The next major drop is S-Turn, a fantastic 14-foot falls into a soft pool with a small ledge as the exit. This drop can be scouted and portaged right or left, and is regularly run on the far left. This drops gets nasty at high water. Below S-Turn, more fun boogie water leads quickly into the Bowey Hotel, a 5-foot ledge that can pack a punch. Run right, and be on your toes: Wishbone lurks just downstream.
Wishbone is the second of the Little White's signature big drops. This fantastic 18-footer offers a great line on the left. From the pool below Wishbone, you must run a mini-gorge -- The Squeezes -- that ends in Stovepipe, a nasty lava bench. The entrance to the gorge is fun IV, but beware of Horseshoe, a 6-foot ledge with a backed-up hydraulic. Stay to the sides (the conventional line is far right) and out of that hydraulic. Stovepip
...River Features
Willard National Fish Hatchery Put-In
The put-in is at the Cook-Underwood Road Bridge across the Little White Salmon adjacent to the Willard National Fish Hatchery.
Boulder Sluice
Spirit Falls
One of the most spectacular and classic drops of the Pacific Northwest. This legendary 33-foot waterfall is spectacular from any angle. It has a straightforward lead-in, plenty of room to scout or portage on the left (have a rope ready to lower boats). That said, this is not a drop to be taken lightly. The right wall has handed out its share of beatdowns over the years, and a swim out the pool may result in a very dangerous swim over Chaos, a ledge waiting in the outflow from the pool.
Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery Take-Out
The take-out is on river right where the Little White Salmon becomes Drano Lake at the confluence of the Columbia River.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a report31 Year Old Oregon Paddler Dies on the Little White Salmon River, WA - August 9, 2009
(http://paddlinglife.net/article.php?id=457)
A crew portages Spirit Falls. On Monday, a crew of local raft guides and kayakers found the body of 31-year-old Ryan Morgan pinned underwater in the rapid below Spirit Falls on the Little White Salmon River, WA. During his run on Sunday, Ryan made the portage around Spirit, got back in his kayak at the standard spot, and was swept into the sieves and logjam on river left directly below the put in spot. This was the first kayaker fatality on the class V Little White Salmon River.
Ryan, who was paddling with a friend, made the portage around Spirit Falls first. His friend saw him make it safely to the bottom of the portage and begin getting back in his boat, and so he began lowering his boat down the steep slope. When Ryan’s friend got everything collected at the bottom he didn’t see Ryan, so he assumed Ryan had already peeled out and started making his way downstream through the remaining few rapids to the takeout. When he hadn’t found Ryan by the time he got to the car, he made the call to search and rescue.
A small crew comprised of local kayakers and raft guides from Wet Planet dropped into the Little White on Monday morning to begin searching the river, as the steep canyon walls and technical class V rapids made any search of the river by search and rescue teams highly impractical. The crew found Ryan, still in his kayak, in a sieve below the Spirit Falls portage. The team was able to carefully extract the kayak, but was forced to abandon efforts to extract the body. A technical rescue team was being called in to recover the body.
The Little White is at a low enough flow that the majority of paddlers have stopped running it for the year. A select few however, still enjoy making low water descents and emerge from the canyon thrilled with the quality of the whitewater. Several other kayakers have been swept into the logjam below Spirit Falls in the past couple of years at significantly higher flows, and have suffered uncomfortable swims as a result. The low water likely had an effect on Ryan’s ability to make it through the logjam as others had at higher water.
Ryan Morgan was a Molalla, Oregon councilman with a “lot of energy and a lot of ideas,” according to John Atkins, Molalla City Manager. Ryan, who grew up in Molalla, frequently led youth volunteer programs and was active in the juvenile justice system. He is survived by his wife.
Jesse in the entrance to the gorge above the horseshoe hole.
Paul actively avoiding Chaos.
Paul & Adam are in the eddy above the entrace to Boulder Sluice.
Notice Stove Pipe is actually cleaner than it was last year...
This is only part of the first ever AW centerfold. Pretty cool watching Jeff huck off with the hand paddles.