Russian, E. Fork
Lower – Potter Valley Rd to Hwy 20/Lake Mendocino
| Difficulty | III |
| Length | 2.4 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 20 fpm |
| Gauge | Ef Russian R Nr Calpella Ca |
| Flow Rate as of 51 minutes | 50 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 2, 2024 |
River Description
This is a fun run. Many good play spots. This is called a river but it is really a creek at this point. Expect to be creekin'!
History:
It is one of those engineering marvels from another era that is made possible by a coincidence of nature. The Eel River is only a few miles from the upper reaches of the Russian River drainage but it is separated by several hundred feet of elevation. PG&E saw this as an opportunity to extract energy from this water by drilling a tunnel through the ridge that separates the two rivers. The cost of labor, the environmental impact, and the liability would probably preclude this project if it were proposed today.
Eel River water is metered from Lake Pillsbury to the much smaller Van Arsdale reservoir ten miles below. From there, water flows through the ridge to a generating station in Potter Valley. This water then joins with the East Fork of the Russian River and about ten miles later it enters Lake Mendocino. Without this additional water, the Russian River would be pitifully small during the summer months. Old- timers tell of some stretches of the river where no above ground flow connected the occasional pools.
This section's flows may change in the future when the Eel River Potter Valley dams are removed, as is the plan for as early as 2028.
Description:
The last three miles of the East Fork of the Russian River provide a delightful Class II+/III run. This stretch is short, relatively continuous, has a good ender spot, has an easy put-in and take-out, and a very easy shuttle. You may run it as a warm-up to the Pillsbury Run on the Eel.
Warning: There is a Class V/VI rapid called Three-Rock Falls by the locals that is just above this run. It should probably be portaged by most people at most water levels. This area has taken the lives of several innertubers and there are signs warning boaters to portage around it. There is at least one undercut
...River Features
Three Rock Falls (-0.1mi)
Put in below this long set of rapids
East Side Road Put-In
Put in on river left below Three Rock Falls on East Side Road 1 mile north of Highway 20.
Mendocino Reservoir Take-Out
Take out in the recreational area under the highway bridge where the river transitions to a reservoir.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThese are photos from January 3, 2022. This is a beautiful but also crummy rapid with so many obstructions. Probably always a portage except for high water when boulders MAY be covered.
Ted Couch and I put in with my never before paddled Alpacka Forager, and hilarity ensued.
We were on our way to an overnight on the Eel, and this was a perfect short afternoon run on the way. Definitely worth doing if in the area. There are two sections of class III, with the longest and most fun one coming at the end. Learning how to creek in a Forager is going to take some time, we both got ejected after plowing into rocks in the middle of rapids.
We had about 350cfs, which was friendly. More would have been fun, in a packraft maybe would go down to 250 or even lower.
A group of us yakers, IKers, and packrafters (Michelle, Lance, Josh, Jeff, Bear) did this run when the weather conditions at Potter Valley were too much for a daytrip on the Eel Pillsbury run. It was a pretty fun Class III run that was technical and brushy enough to challenge the lesser boaters amongst us, and a bit boring for the more experienced of us, but we enjoyed the day. Scoping Three Rock Falls after was humbling! At these flows it looked to be an impossible deathfest to even the more experienced of our lot!