Santeetlah

The Upper Santeetlah is a beautiful place with pockets of large old growth trees (some of

which are in the river), pristine water, and beautiful rapids. At the putin, on forest road

81c the river is very small before the tributaries have a chance to come together. There

is a flat pice of cement at the base of the river left bridge support on forest road 81c .

This is a good visual gage. Look for the water to be level or above the down stream side

of this cement slab for a good run. For the first 1/2 mile the river is small with boulder

rapids. Within the first 1/2-3/4 mile there is a 3' diameter hemlock across the entire river.

Portage this on river right. The river then enters a section of bedrock rapids. The rapids

in this section all have the same character, they start on river left and slide to river right.

This section ends with a narrow 100' long side. After this long slide there is an 18' drop

(scout this one), and then a 10' drop. The river continues in a drop pool format for 3 or 4

more rapids before changing into long continous boulder rapids similar to the West Prong.

There are a few more slides in this section before the takeout at the forest service

gate. It is best to takeout about 100 yards down stream of the gate to avoid crawling

through the rhododendron. You cannot see the road from the river so it is best to make a

visual reference of where you car is parked. If this gate is locked you can either hike up

from the gate or go to the top of the Cherohala Skyway and hike down forest road 81. As

of April 2002 there was a lot of wood in the river so watch out.