Redwood Creek

Redwood Creek photo by Sara Gallagher

A foggy and beautiful day on Redwood Creek.

NPS Photo / Ally Gran

Day 1 (2/10/2023): A group of 7 (2 packrafts, 2 IK’s, 3 kayaks) put-in at Bair Rd Bridge, flows were 240 cfs on the upper Redwood Creek gage. We started around noon, and went about 12.5 miles with the goal of making it past the ranch land that could pose trespassing problems for camping. Past Stover Ranch, it is industrial timberland, and camping on the river banks is fine. No portages for wood, but did float over one log and had to duck under another. The first one would be a problem at lower flows and second would be a problem at higher flows. Not a lot of camping options this day, and would be even fewer at higher flows. We camped on a small sand bar.

Day 2 (2/11/2023): More fun Class II rapids, some had wood that had to be avoided. And a few Class III. False Rocky Gap was the first rapid I felt like I’d want to scout, there was a clean line starting on the right moving left. We immediately eddied out on river right on a large sandy beach to scout Rocky Gap; the two rapids are very close together. At river-level, False Rocky Gap looked similar to some of the rapids we had paddled, except the line was less apparent. The REAL Rocky Gap was a massive horizon line. Rocky Gap is a 3-tier drop, with undercuts and sieves. On our trip, one kayaker ran Rocky Gap after fully evaluating the hazards, with another professional river runner setting safety at river-level on the second drop. IK’s lined their boats on river left. The other kayakers portaged the first drop at river level on river left, seal launched into the second tier, and ran the final (and smallest drop) of the rapid. Packrafts portaged on river left, which was kind of a pain due to the steepness and constriction on one side, and mucky landslide on the downhill side. Throw ropes proved useful for lowering packrafts on the downhill side of the portage. As noted in the write-up for this run, the eddy on the left for the portage is small, barely big enough for 2 boats. So it is important for a group that only one person at a time ferry from the beach on the right to the “portage eddy” on the left. Missing this eddy has Class V consequences. No one in our group checked out a potential portage route on river right as it was covered in poison oak. A couple more Class III rapids (one with wood partially blocking the channel) were downstream, then there are no more real rapids. We camped on a large moss-covered river terrace on river left.

Day 3 (2/12/2023): The final day was a leisurely scenic float through old growth. The river widens and slows down. We did a side hike through the Tall Trees Grove. Flows were 650 cfs at Orick when we took out. During the off-season, the Orick Rodeo Grounds provides secure parking for $5 per car, per night. Call to confirm, not sure if this is an option in the spring but it was for us in February. We floated to Orick and took out at the Rodeo Grounds. At low flows, the extra 3.5 miles to get to the ocean would add a lot of time.

A little more flow would have been nice, there were a couple gravel bars that were boney but I felt like we had plenty of water to have a good time. And these flows prevented False Rocky Gap/Rocky Gap portage from feeling stressful.

A highlight reel of our trip can be found here: Packrafting Redwood Creek

A group of 6 packrafters tried to run this on Feb 13, 2021 and took out after 1.5 miles due to some inexperience and pushy flows. At the time the group had read repeatedly that 3,000 - 3,500 cfs was the max for this run in order to properly eddy at Rocky Gap, especially with a large group.

with dropping flows and good weather forecast (for January) some boating friends suggested we do a little self-support trip on something new. After a check of Ca Creeks we decided on this run. (the trip report on Ca. Creeks is excellent and accurate in every regard. If you plan on getting on this run , read it) Flows at Blue Lake were approx. 270cfs when we put-on and 240cfs when we took off. Flows at Orick were approx. 1,500 and 1,250 cfs put-in/take-out. We put on just above Stover Ranch where the creek is very close to the road with no problem. We came prepared (dressed and packed) and made quick and quiet work getting the gear from the road to the creek. Flow at the put-in was more than
enough to float both kayaks and the small raft we had with us and seemed to be much more than 270 cfs. the whitewater section on this run is short but fun and satisfying. At our flow we had no problem spotting the lead-in to the portage/class 5. If class 3 boaters are in the group; Send the best boater down first to the eddy above the portage. Give him some time to get out and get the rope ready, then take your time coming down to the eddy one by one leaving plenty of space between boats in case something goes wrong. the portage isn't easy but it's fairly short. We lined the raft through and all went well.