Santa Margarita

This is indeed a great run, as all accounts attest. A word of warning on the flow though: the trip report below (from 2008) reports 3.2' on the Murrieta Cr. stick and guesses that is 1300 cfs and would have liked more. In fact, for Jan 6, 2008, the USGS Santa Margarita nr. Temecula gage (just downstream after Temecula Cr, which usually doesn't contribute hardly anything) reads 350 cfs at the trip report's stated put-in time of 2pm, decreasing to 279 cfs at 4pm.

This indeed is a good flow. Three of us did it Jan 21, 2017 on 250'ish cfs and it was bony but still worth it, and friend solo'd it in a packraft on Feb. 5, 2019 and Nov. 29, 2019 both times at 300-350 cfs and reported it filled out nicely relative to our 2017 run. I also ran this twice in the 1990s but don't remember the flows.

He and I then just did it without portages on March 10, 2020 when the flow was 580 cfs rising to 814 cfs (got surprised by a secondary peak). The Murrieta Cr. stick gage read 3.6' at put-in time. It was pretty stomping compared to the lower flows. Lots of very long, continuous, legit solid class IV. 7.5 minute video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZvStUqQp7M and 17 minute version at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIRDncEj5ZU

I would be very cautious about going in at high flows. Watch the videos above and decide how much higher than 800 cfs you might want to go. Things might wash out and be fine, but there could also be some humongous holes, and for sure it will be moving like a freight train. It is certainly doable by sufficiently skilled boaters at high flows, but just don't be thinking that 1300 cfs is a normal, low-key, middle-range flow. I think you would want to be a solid class V boater at 1300+ cfs.

Another flow data point is that on Rocky's (solo) first descent he estimated 300-400 cfs and, presuming he put on in the morning, this sounds reasonable as the USGS gage reports 415 cfs at 8 am declining to 130 cfs at 4 pm. The AWA flow tab for this run quotes Rocky as saying 1500 cfs as optimal, but I don't think he actually says this but rather just estimates that as the boundary between class IV and V. (Edit: I just corresponded with Rocky and he reports he has done this run about 5 times and that the highest flow was 2500 cfs and that he thinks 500-1000 cfs is the best flow range).

Also, I recommend taking out along Stage Coach Lane and not fighting the horrible brush between there and the Sandia Creek bridge. We haven't had any problems. There are homes and associated private property and No Trespassing signs but in our experience those can be avoided.