Mill Creek
Cataract Falls (1 mile) ** Access Issues **
| Difficulty | V |
| Length | 1 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Mill Creek Near Cataract, in |
| Flow Rate as of 30 minutes | 25 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 17, 2019 |
Presently very off limits, but it has been run.
For more info, see this website: Cataract Falls
A very action-filled, complex lead-in brings you to this falls. It starts with a river-wide short dam structure, proceeds to various slides, ledges, and waves, and then . . . the big wahoo! The left side of the main falls lands shallow/hard on rock. The remainder of the width of the falls looks wicked with high flows.
The approach to this falls is much more straightforward than the Upper, though not without it's own hazard. A preliminary short ledge forms a wave which can stop you for an unplanned surf. You had better come out of it in your boat and in control, because the main drop is not far downstream.
Believe it or not, it should be noted that this lower cascade is sometimes not present! Water from the 'lake' (reservoir) downstream can back up so much that it completely swallows up this drop!
The following YouTube video shows a run of this drop.
Nov 16, 2011
Ran lower falls 3 weeks back at 600 cfs. Went great! The upper falls dosent look good to go without 2000 cfs at least, let me know if you wanna run it on the next rain! mclendenen1@gmail.com
Jan 6, 2007
The falls running at 2,500 cfs. At this level the lower falls were washed out.
Apr 6, 2004
If you have any questions about running the falls, shoot me an email at willcrimmins@yahoo.com. I ran them about a week and a half ago, March 28th 2004. Would definately recommend running. -Will