Clear Fork, North Prong
1. Old Sunbright to Banner Springs
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | n/a |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Reach Info Last Updated | November 8, 2010 |
River Description
I have only run this 2x at very low water, so conditions may be very different at medium to high water.
This is a 4-5 mile run with the middle 2-3 miles non-stop class III with at least two III+ - IV. There are at least 2 triple-drop rapids of 3-4-3 feet. There are about 10 additional class III rapids. The final rapid, locals call it 'The Falls,' is a 7-foot clean slot drop into a beautiful large pool. The most serious rapid is about 1/2 way down and follows a s-curve pool with logjams at each end of the pool. Go around the final logjam & the rapid begins. It is a very tight triple drop with micro-pools between drops that may require going off each drop sideways to keep from pinning at medium to high water. (I call it Cramma, Jamma, Slama.)
Biggest danger on this river is the 15 - 18 riverwide logjams/beaver dams. Most of these are not in the whitewater section and are easy to portage (20-30 paces out of your boat), but some are at the end of rapids. Scout everything you can not see for logjams.
The takeout is 200 yds uphill with a 5-mile shuttle.
River Features
Take Out
Put In
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThe take out listed on the map I would say is not correct
There are too many logs across this river to enjoy this run and the portages are not that easy. I feel it's just not worth another run. I feel I must have crossed or went under 50 trees...many of which I had to portage. There were a few class 3-4 drops though. Some included undercuts and sieves. It took me almost 5 hours to run this river. I'd look for something else to run.