Stillaguamish, S. Fork

We kayaked the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River with a group of eight paddlers: seven kayaks and one inflatable kayak. The crew included Tom, Emma, Jennie, Mary, Kanako, Patrick, Bob, and Corey. Bill Petty stopped by while we were getting ready at the put-in and generously helped by shuttling one of the vehicles.

The weather was classic Pacific Northwest winter—overcast skies with a light mist in the air. It had rained overnight and the freezing level had risen, with more rain in the forecast. The steady rain held off through most of the run, only beginning in earnest once we reached the takeout.

We put in at Boardman Creek. Within just a few minutes of paddling, the first class III boulder gardens appeared. At this flow, the river was at an ideal level for this section: high enough to keep things moving, but low enough that boulders were visible and lines were well defined. The boulder gardens were straightforward to boat scout and offered continuous, enjoyable maneuvering with plenty of clean routes between exposed rocks.

Eventually we reached Wiley Creek Rapid, the largest rapid on the run. At this water level it remained solid class III. We had scouted it earlier from the road on the way to the put-in, and on the water the lines were clear and easy to identify by boat scouting. There were alternate routes through the rapid, all offering fun, well-defined moves. Downstream of Wiley Creek we continued through more lively boulder gardens, which made for some of the most enjoyable paddling of the day.

Given the recent flooding in the region last month, many paddlers have been wondering about post-flood river conditions. It was interesting to see the South Fork after those events, but we did not observe any major channel changes or new hazards that significantly affected this run. Aside from one recently fallen tree near the end of the trip that extended about three-quarters of the way across the river—highly visible and easy to avoid on the far left—wood in the channel was minimal. We saw a few isolated pieces, but nothing that posed a serious hazard or required unexpected portages.

We stopped for a quick snack break on a gravel bar on river right before continuing downstream past Gold Basin Campground. Along this section, a large engineered log retaining wall runs for a considerable distance on river right. We observed sediment-laden water emerging from the structure, and signs of recent high water erosion behind the log wall, raising questions about how well the structure is functioning.

Soon after, the river enters a stretch lined with private property, with several cabins on river left. A fun rapid appears as the river bends right along this cabin-lined section. We then approached the Mountain Loop Highway Bridge, where another enjoyable rapid sits just upstream of the crossing. At the bottom of this rapid, wood was protruding from the right bank. It was easy to spot and avoid, as long as paddlers stayed off the right wall and clear of the logs.

After passing under the bridge, there is another short, fun rapid. Shortly downstream we encountered the fallen tree noted earlier, extending most of the way across the river. It was in moving current but not in a rapid, highly visible, and easily avoided by passing far left.

Not long after, we reached the takeout. The campground where we exited was closed, but there was sufficient space near the entrance to park several cars close to the highway. From campsite 8, a small beach provides easy river access, and it’s only a short walk to the parking area. As we changed and packed up our gear, the rain finally arrived in earnest.

Despite the cold and wet conditions, it was a great day on the water. The flow was excellent, the rapids were well formed, and the group enjoyed a fun winter paddle on the South Fork Stillaguamish—an ideal way to embrace the Pacific Northwest rainy season.

On Saturday (5/7/2022) I was gifted with my first trip down the Silly Stilly. This run is straight up awesome, especially at these flows. When rafting outfitters charge customers $100 to raft the Skagit or the Nooksack, I'm appalled that they don't offer trips on this run.

Anyways, we put in at the access point where the river makes a sharp right hand bend and floated down to the station where the gold cart and the giant log sit. Our group consisted of 4 kayakers and 2 packrafts and the entire run took roughly an hour. We loved how continuous and playful this run is, catch on the fly waves through the entire run. Wiley Creek Rapid came up a bit faster than a few of us expected, but we still had plenty of river to warm up on. At 6.9ft I could probably call Wiley Creek a solid class IV with the picket line of huge holes to work through creating quite the stir if you don't nail your line. After this there is tons of fun class II and III rapids all the way to the first bridge, where a solid wave train on the right wraps up the action. Below this there are a few easy class II rapids until the takeout, most of the group exited at the Sandy beach near the campground but I floated a tad further down and scrambled up the bank by the gold cart.

There was no wood near or below the recently engineered log jams that posed any issues.

We had a fun trip down the South Fork Stillaguamish after the recent high water event. We met up at the Verlot Ranger Station (parked at on the river side of the highway near the big log and mining cart) and set take-out vehicles there. We put-in at Boardman Creek access and had one log we needed to immediately portage. The rest of the run was largely clean with a few pieces of wood in play in some of the drops that was easily avoided. This is a good low runnable flow. The big project to reroute the river at Gold Basin Campground was impressive with engineered wood structures lining the bank for a long distance. Several sections eroded away in the last high water event. We did not find any evidence of logs from the structure as we continued downstream to Verlot but stay alert if you do this run.

In the summer of 2021, a construction to change the course of of the river at the Gold Basin Campground took place. On the river right bank, they piled up logs, many of which are not secured. 25 logs had floated down before our first run of the season on 9/19/2021, though none was in a bad place. After the high water, some moved, and more new logs floated out of the bank. Be careful particularly after each high water.

We put in at Boardman Creek, approximately 2 miles upstream of Wiley Creek Rapid. A few pieces of wood in play, use caution as you approach the engineered wood structures on river right at the Mountain Loop Highway Bridge, but mostly all easily visible and nothing requiring a portage.

Ran this May 12th, 2019. There's still wood in the last major rapid above the bridge. If you're a Class III boater, it's worth a quick glance when setting shuttle from the bridge, All the wood is at the bottom right of the rapid with a considerable amount of current impacting wood. A good R. to L. move and you're in the river L. eddy and away from the hazard.

Landscape view from my phone.

2015 Video
https://youtu.be/sq4aKHJyQiw

Made this wave while working as a Hydro Tech but winter storms washed it away completely.

Screen shot from my video https://youtu.be/sq4aKHJyQiw

Built this up and surfed it while working as a Hydro Tech in 2015. As of 2016 it was completely washed out.

Open Canoe below Wiley Creek. A little low for open canoes, but a good day for hardshells and IKs.

Floated this section on 6/3/12 on my 14ft cataraft. River at 6.5ft and I would consider this a minimum for large rafts unless you like bouncing off rocks in the rapids below Wiley Creek. 3.5-4hr float at this flow. One logjam above Wiley Creek nearly spans the river so we portaged around it, otherwise no log issues.

Ran the SF Stilly on 5/1/2011 from about halfway between Wiley Creek and the Red Bridge down to Verlot Camp. There are two log jams just above Wiley Creek that require portaging, though each is a short and easy portage. Still, I'd recommend putting in as close to Wiley Creek as you can to avoid them (and the flat water above). The gauge was at 5.3 feet, which was just barely enough. It was pretty rocky and technical at that level, and I'd really recommend at least 5.5 as a lower level. We didn't run aground anywhere, but we came close, and certainly hit and slid over a ton of rocks at such low water.

Overall-- had a blast. The run was more fun than expected, and there was a lot of fun and action.

One last note-- the big log jam near the end has been broken up over the winter, and there are no longer any major obstructions near the end of the run.

I'd like to add a variation to Tom's 'fun and clean' comment. As Joe mentioned in his warning, there's a class III 'screaming left hand turn' type rapid with a logjam backing it up just before the bridge takeout. Not a hard move, but a horrible place to flip. Boaters without solid boat-handling skills should scout this one.

Log described below upstream of Wiley Creek rapid is still there--an easy portage around the left or squeeze under. Otherwise the run is clean and good fun at 7'.

The banks were snowy and the water was cold but a good time was had by all.

I am not sure if this gauge is correct. However on 01-Feb-04 we ran this section at 7.38ft on the gauge and I would not hesitate to run this at a level higher. We ran dry a few times and others we had to almost walk. I would recommend this at around 8ft

Keep in mind that if the section above this one is easily runnable, this section will be on the high side. In other words, if you decide to combine the upper and middle runs, be prepared for a challenging day.

Also, be aware the Wiley Creek Rapid isn't just the stuff you can see from the road. When you are scouting, you are seeing the end of a very long rapid. The one below it is even longer.

When you make it through these two rapids, it's a real rush, because you know you have really accomplished something.