San Juan

We ran this in two rafts (14 foot and 15 foot) at 540 CFS on Mother’s Day weekend. We put in at Pagosa Riverside campground where we camped the night before. I would definitely recommend the spot which had hot showers, dishwashing, and $35 for camping by the without much road noise. Above town for a few miles the River was shallow and we got hung up a couple times on sleepers and gravel. There was a lot of evidence of the flood from October 2025 here rock piles and eroded banks. The town section was great with some good class two fun. Seems like there are about 30 or so of these man-made ledges throughout the run down to Trujillo Road at mile 16. The flood had washed out some of them and made them more like rapids with tongues, some of the ledges had recirculating energy, enough to pull the raft backwards a bit, but not keep it. At this flow we got hung up a couple times in the drops one time getting pinched between two rocks and another time when there was a rock directly below the drop that caught our nose. We had done this run one time before at 1000cfs and this was considerably more challenging at 500cfs both because of the boniness and the way the river had changed due to the flood, whole trees in the river at times. Lunch spot is beautiful, about 6miles from the takeout. Constant attention was required to find the river channel, dodge rocks, find sleepers, and scout the rapids from the boat by standing up. We had previously known about Llama falls the 3’ waterfall. It’s similar to others of these ledge drops, and at this flow there were a few of this magnitude at 3’ or so that make your frame slide forward. It’s exciting in a raft and fairly straightforward. This run is exceptional, we’ll be back!

We put in behind the malt shop and floated to the take out in 4:45 with a fair amount of paddling. The canyon was beautiful and had a lot of non-stop class II action. The description from 2004 was nice to read beforehand, but honestly struggled to match it up with the river. I could not tell where that bridge rapid was and it totally neglected to mention a 3-4ft high vertical waterfall drop at 37.163451, -107.038981. Scouting is very recommended here and it is portage-able river left at low flows. Unsure about higher flows. It looks very intimidating, but is a straight line across the river so lining up the drop is easier than the dozens of U-shaped dams/man-made drops above and below. Staying perpendicular to the holes below these was a challenge with the curvature of the drops. We did have one paddler flipped in a hole below one of these dams and the hole kept his boat for ten minutes before we portaged back upstream and rammed it out with another boat.

We were in packrafts and I would say 500 is a good bottom flow for this stretch. We were having to scoot across some shoals and riffles, but if you knew the river, you might be able to avoid them.

One other aspect of the 2004 report that was lacking was mentions of all the islands that the river splits around. There's probably about a dozen and the way around is not always clear. Some channels look promising at the head of the island, but looking back up from the bottom, they're either very shallow or have some wood.

Overall, really fun float and good step up for Class II boaters looking for some class III. It's not a casual float and sure higher water is trickier, but we enjoyed it at these flows. Looks like levels have dropped into the 300's only days later though so might be over till next year.

Takeout for a 14.5 mile float- 37.12610770472159, -107.05186362767749

one of the many waves in town ~800cfs

I wonder what Sid Bass

Alright, I've only done this run about 4 times, so this is what I have to offer. First, let me say this is probably one of the prettiest non-permited runs in Southern Colorado/Northern New Mexico that offers 'easy' whitewater. I wouldnt exactly call this a beginner run due to the fact that the water is very, very cold and once you are in the canyon, trespassing signs restrict you from getting out of the canyon. I have done this stretch from 900 cfs to 1800 cfs, and I find that the more water the better. I would imagine that around 2500, things start to get a little flushy and hairy. The put in for this stretch is at the malt shop (good ice cream!) after you cross over the bridge that crosses the river on the left. Once you put in, you are on the man made course through town. This course is pretty continuous II+ waves and holes which offer some play at good water levels. If you dont feel like doing the whole run, take out at the bridge past the hot springs in town (only about a 30-40 minute paddle). Past this bridge, the river meanders over some easy shoals and you start to recognize some canyon walls shooting up as you leave civilization. Make sure you take a look back at all the 13,000-14,000ft peaks popping up out of the Weminuche Wilderness. Soon you will go through some man made U shaped ledges which offer some decent play... there are something like 30 of them on this run. As the river bends to an extreme right, then cuts back left, you will see a small bridge over the river. This is the biggest rapid on the run. It is a solid class III at 1500 cfs. To run it, go from river right to left puching through the big wave/hole. If you flip, roll quickly because the water takes you into one of the bridge pilons. Afterwards, there is a lot of class two action as you take in some beautiful, remote scenery and the man made ledges. About three miles down from the bridge rapid there is a great landing area that Alpine Cascade company has allowed rafters/kayakers to stop for lunch on. Be respectful and pick up your trash so that we can keep using it. After this lunch break, the action picks up and as soon as the river bends to the right, you encounter the best set of class III waves on the whole river. They are about 4-6 ft high and give rafters a great ride. The action continues for the next 4-5 miles with more class II-III waves, man made ledges, and the occasional play spot. The scenery is still unbeatable. When you begin to notice the gradient lessening and more cabins appearing, this signifies that the take out is close by. You will go under one more bridge by a small cabin and go over some shoals, then the takeout is on river right. To get to the takeout, drive down the road that the commercial hot springs is on and after the community center where the road forks (yield sign) take a right and cross over the bridge. Keep going straight on that road for a long time (road turns to gravel). You will pass the trash dump, and eventually you will come to a parking spot on the left with great access (look for other cars). Park here and shuttle, which takes about 45 minutes. For all you easterners, I say this run is about as hard as the Nantahala, but offers more rapids that are bigger than quarry but not harder than the falls.

For camping I usually camp over at the Piedra campgrounds (20 minutes away) because they have free hot springs. You can find campgrounds close by in the Weminuche Wilderness if you want to be closer. Pagosa bar does have PBR on tap, but this town lacks a mirco brewery. The town of Pagosa Springs itself is a beautiful eclectic place that signifies what a mountain town should be.

Josh