Owyhee, South Fork

We ran the South Fork in 2020 and again this year April 27-28, 2023.  The Rome gauge for this latest trip was steady at 4,000 and Crutcher was steady at 1,200.  We estimated around 1,000 in the South Fork.  Note that it's not possible to put in at YP ranch anymore -- the owner has not been granting permission to cross the ranch land and use that access point.   Also note that the access roads in the whole area of the upper forks of the Owyhee are long, unpaved and often difficult.

An earlier trip report described this as 'not a whitewater run', which is not exactly accurate, though it is true that the East Fork and Main have many more challenging rapids than the South Fork.  Below Pipeline are three good class 3 rapids at this flow: Pinball, an unnamed drop below Stateline, and Sentinel.  They each required some maneuvering by our 12-14' rafts, but were no problem for us or the kayakers.    The rest of the rapids marked by the BLM on their map were class 2.   The 45 Dam was a straighforward run at this level, 2+ or 3-.

As others have noted, the BLM-marked campsites are often nowhere to be found, and other sites exist but aren't marked, so it's best not to put too much faith in the map to find campsites.   Especially at higher flows where beaches and sandbars will be covered.

The section has beautiful volcanic-canyon scenery as is typical of this river system, and on our recent trip we saw abundant wildlife as well in this remote wilderness area.

If you plan to take out at 45 Ranch as we did, it's a good idea to take a close look at the takeout itself when setting the shuttle, especially if it's your first time.  You want to be sure you can spot it from the river and get through any brush that's grown up around it.

This is a short 25 mile run with a long access drive and shuttle, but it does make a good 2 or 3 day option if that's what you want.