| Difficulty | IV-V |
| Length | 5.2 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 103 fpm |
| Gauge | Salmon R a Somes Bar Ca |
| Flow Rate as of 46 minutes | 218 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 26, 2025 |
Wooley Creek is one of the most beautiful and remote hike-in boating runs in California. Draining the heart of the 241,000-acre Marble Mountain Wilderness Area, it cuts through an eponymous granitic batholith with three mini-gorges filled with round boulders, ledges, blind drops, classic boofs, and sometimes vertical walls—all set against a backdrop of pristine scenery. It is the epitome of hike-in wilderness paddling with challenge both on the trail and the water. Boating here is an adventure experience.
Although it is named as a creek, Wooley is really the smallest fork of the Salmon River, draining 95,192 acres or about 20% of the Salmon River watershed. Except at high flows, the run is Class IV/IV+: Wooley is not hair boating, and a lot of it can be boat-scouted by experienced paddlers. Everything can be run assuming there are no wood hazards--but there usually are some.
Wooley's remoteness factor is high, and any mishap here could become serious because there is essentially no prospect of getting out quickly or summoning outside help in time if needed. The trail is mostly quite high above the creek and doesn't offer an easy way out. Be prepared to be fully self-sufficient for anything you may encounter on or off the water. A satellite communicator is an essential safety item for this run but help will still take a long time to arrive.
Use some kind of pack system to carry your kayak: it's a long way to shoulder a boat and dragging is not only bad for your kayak, it's a poor ethic to leave plastic shavings all along the trail. Rafters may want to consider hiring a local mule packer to get gear in (this is how Dean Munroe's pioneer commercial rafting trip with Munroe's Wilderness Adventures on Wooley Creek was done in 1984!). Packrafters will find the hike comparatively easy, and this is likely the future of Wooley Creek boating, which is actually going somewhat full-circle back to
...Park here and start hiking. Vehicle security is an issue at this trailhead and there have been break-ins (and a few firebombings--likely targeted--in the past). It's best to park on the side of the parking area where your vehicle isn't visible from Salmon River Road. The parking area for the Brannons Bar River Access (by the bathroom) seems to have fewer issues and it's a short walk to the trail from there. Due to the sensitivity of this area, it's recommended to not camp here.
Wooley Camp is a private inholding within the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area. A short spur trail off the Wooley Creek Trail descends to the camp, which includes a large communal building and several cabins on the creek. It is tended by an on-site caretaker.
Put in near Wooley Camp, using the spur trail from the Wooley Creek Trail to get close to the creek. To avoid trespassing on the privately owned Wooley Camp Association land, walk off-trail directly to the creek before passing through the Wooley Camp gate. This is the fastest route to the creek.
Wooley Creek enters its first gorge immediately upon on a sharp left bend a little more than a mile below Wooley Camp. This bend conceals the first rapid so that by the time you see that it's there, you're comitted to run its entry ledge. To scout, get out on the left as soon as you see the sharp left bend. This rapid can also (sort of) be seen from the hike in but is far below the creek and a view of it depends on the leaves being off the trees (winter and early spring). There are three distinct drops in this rapid.
Gates Creek is the second significant rapid of the run, separated from the first significant rapid by a couple smaller rapids. Scout right.
Steep rapid with boulders and holes. Scout right.
This undeveloped put-in provides access to the lowermost gorge of Wooley Creek. Reaching it requires a three-mile hike, and gets you about two miles of boating on the creek. From the trail, continue upstream from the first spot where it drops closer to the creek, pass two obvious dispersed campsites, and hike another few minutes to nearly reach Deer Lick Creek. Look for the most manageable spot to scramble down to Wooley Creek.
A picturesque ledge drop on a right hand bend. Depending on flow, different line options are available. Although not visible from the trail, this rapid can be easily scouted from the hike-in by venturing off the trail in the upriver direction at the dispersed camp sites about three miles from the trailhead--this also makes a nice break on the hike.
This is arguably the longest and most consequential rapid of the run—and it’s a must-run. Near the bottom, vertical cliff walls on both sides eliminate any portage option. At medium and high flows, the rapid becomes especially powerful, with multiple holes, including a river-wide, recirculating hole at the bottom.
A large boulder at the top splits the current and marks the start of the rapid. If you’re unfamiliar with the line—especially at medium or higher flows—scouting is strongly recommended. Use river left well upstream of the boulder, bushwhack through willows, and scramble along sloping granite as far downstream as possible before reaching the cliffs.
The rapid has a long lead-in before the gradient increases, followed by a series of sloping drops, each with a hole. The left side generally offers a cleaner line than the right but you'll probably be nudged center for the powerful, river-wide hole at the bottom that is unavoidable.
To add to the consequences, a seemingly permanent logjam spans the creek just downstream, blocking the exit of the runout pool. At higher flows, swift current pushes through the pool toward the logjam. If you swim, do everything you can to reach shore—fast. At lower flows, the pool is calmer. The logjam can be portaged on river right.
The Fat Lady Sings is the only truly named rapid on Wooley Creek and, fittingly, marks the last major drop on the run—though not the final rapid. It’s a series of boulder-formed pourovers that is technical at low flows and pushy with big holes at higher flows. Often cited as the run’s biggest rapid, that title is arguable, with the double drop just upstream also in contention. Boat-scout from river left before entering the main flow, or scout from the right bank for a more conservative look. The primary portage route is on the right, but re-entry can be tricky. At low flows, it may be possible to run partway down the left and then portage from the river-left boulder bar.
If it's not over until the fat lady sings, and then there's more, that must be the encore. The next rapid below The Fat Lady Sings is a straightforward III+ drop. Though there are even more rapids downstream of here, all of them are less difficult.
Wooley Creek enters the Salmon River straight on, making for a confusing view that seems as if you will paddle upriver on the Salmon beneath the green arch of the Steinacher bridge. To get to the take-out, continue downstream on the Salmon River's Butler Run for about a half mile to reach the Brannon Bar River Access just downstream of the Salmon River Road bridge (that locals confusingly refer to as the Wooley Creek bridge).
Take out on river right at the Brannon Bar River Access, located off Salmon River Road about 3.5 miles upriver from Highway 96 in Somes Bar. The parking area for the river access is on the opposite side of Salmon River Road. The area closer to the river is reserved for loading/unloading only.
Mar 26, 2023
Winter is hanging on into spring 2023 on the Salmon River and after a cold morning start, we rolled from home in Forks of Salmon downriver to the Wooley Creek Trailhead to embark on what is almost certainly the first Wooley Creek run of 2023. The sun was out, the mountains frosted and snow-capped, and temperatures were perfect for a day of hiking and boating: about 50ºF for a high.
Our group of three included two kayakers and myself, a kayaker normally but today a packrafter. After having hiked into Wooley probably 12 times over the years, I decided a lighter boat was appealing.
So, with good flows on this beautful March day in 2023, I strapped a large Alpacka Gnarwhal (10 pounds) onto my pack and started the hike with my friends and their much heavier kayak loads. The seven-mile hike is always worth the effort but it took extra effort this time due to about 35 downed trees on the hike in. Unlike the kayakers, I was able to walk over, around, or crawl under all of them. Still, it added effort and about an hour to the hike. With breaks and time hanging out with the slower kayak-laden hikers, the hike took me 4 hours and 15 minutes.
I'm quite confident on Wooley Creek in a kayak but, to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive to take it on in a packraft, especially one that is a size too large for me and not known for its technical performance on tight creeks. I've only paddled a packraft maybe 12 times, and I've had more swims in out of one than in my last 25 years in a kayak. Heading into a committing wilderness IV/V creek run had me nervous but also feeling ready. It would be an adventure, which is what this is all about.
As usual, we got on the creek later than we'd hoped to but still had some glorious sun at the start. At 2,550 cfs at Somes Bar gage, this was the low end of a medium flow but it was perfect for the day. We put on around 4:25 pm.
After one barely do-able log duck not far below the put-in, we came upon the sharp left bend that signals the first significant rapid and the start of the first gorge. I scouted because the glimpse I got of it on the hike in made me think it would be a challenge in the packraft. The current piled onto the river left rock wall and folded back on itself at the first of three consecutive drops. What would've been a simple move in a kayak would almost surely have been a flip in the packraft, so I walked it. And I walked the next big one too for much the same reason. I know the Alpacka Valkyrie is the kayaker's packraft and its ability to edge makes it better adapted to these types of lateral curlers that challenge the Gnarwhal. If you have one, bring it for this run. That said, the Gnarwhal was capable and I soon eased into it and ran all the other rapids except one that had a nasty piece of wood in the main line.
The creek was a gorgeous, translucent emerald and sun on the ridges above helped illuminate the inner canyon. Waterfalls poured in from all the tributary creeks, adding beauty and making it unecessary to drink from a bottle.
We had a touch of drama with a kayak swim that required the paddler to hike part of the next rapid then swim its runout through a vertical-walled canyon to get back to his kayak below. Already short on daylight, we didn't have time for any further drama but we all held it together and before we knew it we were entering the third and final gorge and headed for the some of the run's biggest rapids. We all portaged a nasty creek-spanning wood jam in swift current between drops here.
By this point I was feeling pretty confident in the packraft but the kinda stout ledge drop above The Fat Lady Sings had me worried all day. It can easily throttle a kayak. Turned out fine. Same for The Fat Lady Sings. We floated out of Wooley and onto the Salmon River just as a car was driving upriver, headlights on. Another great Wooley day done! A thin crescent moon lit the sky as we loaded up at Brannons Bar and cruised back to Forks for a hot dinner. Wooley is always such a special experience.
Update: the downed trees on the trail were cleared by the Siskiyou Mountain Club in late April 2023. According to boaters who ran Wooley on May 6, 2023, only the creek-spanning wood hazard in the lower gorge remained after the high flows of late April.