Vance Creek

SEASON: November to May with heavy rainfall.

FUN FACT: Great run when things are pumping. A fallback option when other runs
are too high.

ACCESS: At Highway 101 mile 339.5 turn west on to Skokomish Valley Road.
Follow this road 5.7 miles until a turnoff up the hill to the right on FR 23. Follow it 2.6
miles and turn left on FR 2341. This will wind down the hill 1.3 miles to the takeout bridge
across the creek. To reach the put-in head back up to FR 23 and continue west for
another 1.7 miles to the FR 2350 turnoff (you'll see a triangular-shaped grass strip here).
FR 2350 winds along the ridge high above the river. It's 3.8 miles to a small and
somewhat overgrown pull-out that marks the trail down the put-in (if you reach the turn-off
for spur road 120 then you've gone a little bit too far). It's an old road grade that cuts
down through the forest a couple hundred yards. As evidence of the road disappears
head to your right down a steep gully. It's a muddy and steep scramble down to the river
that will require some rope. Check road conditions on the Olympic National Forest
website (below). See Korb's book for the story of locating this put-in where he says,
'you'll probably do some whining about the put-in, but trust me it's the best access
to
this fine run'.

DESCRIPTION:

The put-in described appears to be the only practical access to this creek until you
reach the take-out bridge so once you're down on the creek you're committed. The rapids
are mostly straight-forward and fairly user friendly but you need to constantly be on your
toes for wood hazards. Korb describes a low-water run (250 cfs) where they tried an
alternate put-in further upstream, but they encountered a 10' falls leading into a 35'
waterfall that was impossible to scout from above and nearly impossible to portage.

The river starts out with some grungy rapids and a few b

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