Wenatchee

Tumwater Canyon is a unique resource for Washington paddlers providing big water class V in early summer and fun class IV late in the summer after other nearby runs are too low. The run has easy roadside access as it runs along Highway 2 and many paddlers get their first glimpse of this run during the peak of spring snow melt on trips over to the Wenatchee. At these flows the river is a chaotic maze of exploding holes and although it is run at these levels, many wait for later in the summer once other options are starting to dry up. It's a great place to be in the middle of the summer and you'll be sharing the river with sunbathers and those enjoying the swimming holes in the big pools between the rapids. With the river adjacent to the highway, it's easy to scout all the big drops. Don't forget that they are much bigger down at water level than they look from the road. If you find yourself in over your head it's always easy to shoulder your boat and hike up the road.

You can start a run through Tumwater Canyon from Tumwater Campground but Swiftwater Picnic Area is a good alternative access that still provides some class III warmup rapids. The action slowly builds with intermittent sections of flatwater and easy rapids as you reach The Wall which can be viewed from the road at mile 94. There are a few different lines through this drop and for the most part you just follow the main flow and treat it as read and run. It's a technical class IV+ boulder garden at lower flows and class V at higher flows. The class III runout continues down to the small reservoir formed by the old hydroelectric dam. You can see it from the road at mile 95.1. This dam was built to provide hydropower required to run the electric engines the railroad used through the tunnel at Steven's Pass. The generators have since been removed although the dam itself remains. There are a couple cabins on this reservoir and it's about a 5 minute flatwater paddle to the portage route on river left a

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