Hood
2. Tucker to Hood River Marina
| Difficulty | III |
| Length | 6.1 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Hood River at Tucker Bridge, Near Hood River, or |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 2.98 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 1, 2024 |
Projects
While the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provides the strongest protection for conservation of rivers, other legislation has provided protection of rivers from hydropower development. Section 13 of the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area Act includes important river protection measures. The Wind, Hood, and Little White Salmon were protected from [...]Read More
River Description
A continuous class 3 run that pushes class 4 at higher flows. Fun boulder gardens at lower flows and continuous crashing holes and huge wave trains at higher flows. Powerdale Dam was removed in the summer of 2010 opening up this river for navigation and eliminating the need for a portage.
You can put in at the old dam site to skip the dam rapids which makes this stretch easier.
Logistics:
Take-out: Powerdale is the most popular take out to reduce crowding at the Museum or Marina at the confluence with the Columbia. Hood River Marina also has parking which can be reached by taking I-84 exit 64 and heading north towards the Columbia River. Before crossing the river turn into the Port Marina Park and follow the signs to the Beach which is the take-out.
Put-in: To reach the put-in head back out of the park and head south under I-84 and up towards Mt. Hood on Highway 35. In 6.8 miles turn right towards Odell. Follow the road 0.7 mile and turn right, continue another 0.4 mile and turn right again, then continue 2.3 miles down to the Tucker Bridge across the Hood River where you will find a put-in under the bridge on river right. Note that parking is very limited here. Please ask for permission if you want to park at the Country Store.
An alternative is to head a short distance upstream to Tucker Park (camping available) where you can put in on river right (a trail from the picnic area leads down to the river). Tucker Park put-in option adds two Class IV rapids to the run. When the park is closed boaters often park alongside the road, not blocking the gate, and walk boats down to the park. Recently, No Parking signs were nailed to the trees along the road where boaters usually park shuttle. When Tucker Park closes this continues to be an access issue for both boaters and anglers; we have no reports of boaters being towed or ticketed here but park at your own risk. Road scout the 1st rapid below Tucker Park and check for wood. There are two
...River Features
Tucker County Park Put-in
Access is on river right in Tucker County Park. For many years parking for the day-use area was gated off making this access unusable during the winter boating season but in 2023 park staff agreed to keep the outer gate open allowing paddlers to access the parking area and river access trail for day use.
Tucker Road Put-In
Put in at the Tucker Road Bridge in the bridge right-of-way on river right. Parking is very limited here but it is a potential option if you find Tucker Park closed.
Powerdale Dam Site
The site of the former Powerdale Dam.
Port Marina Park Take-Out
Take out on river right at the Port Marina Park.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportOne of my new favorite continuous Class III runs. Heard reports that things were too high, approaching IV, but it dropped a bit this week and we found it to be perfect at 5.93ft. Definitely lacks eddies at these flows so you should know what you're doing for nonstop III/III+ wave trains. I had one swim but towards the bottom and am a quick self-rescue so all in all it was gravy.
There is a river wide log at the bottom of the right channel below Tucker Park. Passable at high flows. Scout from the road.
Teresa...glad you posted this...i should have read this in advance.
I can speak on how this feels from the swimming side after two long exhausting swims Friday due to simple mistakes and inexperience. The swims were terrifying, very fast for low levels, and brutal on my entire body. I am very fortunate I had n incredible local guide who managed to find me an eddy after a particularly rough 2nd swim that has bruises up and down my legs, a big toe injury, and plenty of anxiety about getting back in my kayak.
Though I know this isnt a hard stretch for experienced kayakers, I would advise that the speed, lack of swimming outlets, and boulders everywhere makes for a very dangerous swim. Had I been knocked out when I was sent backwards going over a boulder, I would have ended up likely in the accidents page due to the very rough portage areas.
Be safe...
A tragic drowning of a young man after getting caught in a hole at ex-Dam rapid last weekend has the local boating community talking about the actual risks and hazards of this run. It may be class III-IV as long as you are in your boat, but the moment you are not in your boat it seems more like class V. It's extremely fast and rocky with no pools and few slow spots or eddies where a swimmer can get out.
Trip that began upstream of Dee and continued to the mouth with Thomas O'Keefe, Emma Johnson, and Omar Jepperson. Photos from the segement of the trip from Tucker Bridge to the Marina.
John Lechmanik posted this information regarding access on lccc listserv April 23, 2017:
Lower Hood takeout.
For those of you who insist on taking out at the museum please note it is posted 'Museum parking only'. So by parking there you are risking a tow, ticket or at the least offending a local business to kayakers. Please don't. There is a takeout down by the windsurfing shacks that is legal. Or some take out at powerdale. Please use those. Feel free to ask me for details.
Tucker bridge.
The Apple Valley store does not allow ANY parking or river access from their property. This is a change from a year or so ago. Park across the street and access the river there. Limited parking. Some are now putting in at Tucker Park. This means running the last 3 rapids of Dee to Tucker with no real warmup and are a little harder than the rest of the lower Hood IMHO.
Dee put in.
It appears this is no more. I spoke with some paddlers who know the landowner and he does NOT allow river access from his property. There are new signs saying no river acces along with the multiple no tresspassing signs. Paddlers have been cited. This means the only legal access is from Punchbowl park on the west fork. This means missing Cyclops and confluence rapid but not much else.
Please be aware of these changes and try not to offend any other property owners at the access points. Our river access to a great river is dwindling....
I took a beginner down this run and it was quite a challenge. Awkward drops, continuous rapids, a riverwide log partway down, and a scary looking fish trap/ huge hole made this run very intimidating for a beginner. Class III with some Class IV maneuvering recommended.
Access at Tucker Bridge
It was so cool to run this without the dam for the first time. They did a great job both getting rid of the dam and creating a new Class 3 rapid!