Gunnison

04. Chukar to N. Fork(Gunnison Gorge)

Difficulty	III
Length	13 mi
Avg Gradient	n/a
Gauge	Gunnison River Below Gunnison Tunnel, Co
Flow Rate as of 27 minutes	303 cfsrunnable
Reach Info Last Updated	May 5, 2025

River Description

One mile hike to the put in.

Class III kayak run through a somewhat remote canyon with great river vibe.

Photo courtesy of www.JulieKeller.com.

A description of the rapids can be found here:

https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/uploads/programs_national-conservation-lands_colorado_gunnison-gorge_NCA_brochure_HI.pdf

River Features

Put In

Distance: 0 mi

Take Out

Distance: 13.44 mi

Take Out

Trip Reports

Bobby Brown

Dec 17, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=libmmj2rDgY

At ~1000 cfs this was a super fun class III run with one III+/ IV towards the end of the whitewater, before the short but flat paddle out. Right from the start (after a fun drive to the TH and a pretty brutal hike down into the canyon) there are a bunch of fun 2s and 3s, and most rapids have good recovery pools below them.
Definitely get the outfitter at pleasure park to shuttle vehicles to the take out for you! Would be brutal to back-shuttle, and there's a bar at the takeout ramp!

Simon Krzych

Aug 2, 2014

7-31-14 Ran this at 780 CFS from what the gauge reads. Day trip from Chukar Trail to North Fork. Beautiful river with the rapids getting more exciting as the river progresses. Rented a 13 foot raft from Al at the take out Pleasure Park. G, Jayvin, Sam, Max, Noah paddled the raft, Charlie and Eli as our safety boaters. With the kids paddling, this made for a hard and exciting run. Cable rapid and the one after were tricky but we where able to keep the raft from flipping and all souls onboard. G would enjoy a canoe on most of the river, skipping just a few of the larger more consequential rapids. Our safety crafts were a stand up paddle board and the Spanish Fly canoe, which made for an enjoyable selection of paddle play for the kids. Next time we may have our own separate gear boat and run the river in smaller crafts like the Mini Me and Hand Breaker. Steve @ (928)660-0958 from pleasure park was helpful for info and shuttle. For all our gear, we hired two pack donkeys. From the Montrose airport the drive is one hour more or less on a rough 2x2 dirt road. Flew into Montrose and out of Delta with an easy 20 min drive from the takeout.