Feather, S. Fork
1. Little Grass Valley Reservoir to South Fork Diversion Dam
| Difficulty | IV-V |
| Length | 9.2 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 154 fpm |
| Gauge | So. Feather Below Little Grass Valley |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 13 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | September 30, 2024 |
River Description
The South Fork Feather is notorious for causing epics. Swims, beatdowns, pins, broken boats, and hikeouts are common. Please approach this run with respect. This run is NOT class IV, even if you walk the first gorge.
Description
The river starts out with 3 difficult Class V rapids. The first is a glorious shoulder boof of the left wall, and is by far the easiest of the three. Next up is Mad Dog: three tiers of chaos, culminating in a large hole. That hole is a short moving pool away from the lip of the waterfall. The waterfall drops 20-25 feet onto a shelf. Enter right, and then get left. You must be left, or you must boof. Vertical lines anywhere right of center usually result in a broken boat or worse. The lip can be difficult to boof, as it slopes deceptively before going vertical. This opening sequence should be treated as V+ due to the stacked nature and consequences. I would rate Mad Dog as 5.0, and the waterfall as 5.1.
After a couple of class V boofs, the river eases up. Many of the rapids are clean and fun, with great boofs. There are also some manky rapids thrown in the mix. However, the run is long, and the rapids are deceptively difficult. For the seasoned class V boater, the run may feel easy. But for the timid class IV or IV+ boater, the likelihood of carnage is high. I have personally seen many swims, pins, pins on logs, swims under logs, and even boats ghosting through the portage. Hikeouts anywhere other than Post Creek are long and arduous.
Be aware that the second portage (Cavin Falls aka The Crack Drop) has two very sticky holes above it. The slide section runs directly into the portage, and I've seen swims out of both holes. The portage has been swum.
- Greg Lee
Other Information Sources:
...River Features
Put-in
Trash Can Falls
This is a 20 to 30 foot falls in the middle of the top gorge. Rusty Sage broke his boat after running the falls and landing in three feet of water. The bottom is said to be shallow all the way across the base of the falls. None the less, some boaters are successfully running this drop. If you are tempted to try it, you should thouroghly explore the landing first.
The portage is high on the right bank and requires catching a small eddy above the falls.
2nd Gorge
After about one mile into the run, you will come to the second gorge. This gorge contains a number of class IV ledge drops with several nice boofs. Boat scouting should be reasonable for many paddlers.
Morneau's More Nose
This is a rather innocuous looking drop with a very sticky hole at the bottom. If you don't get your nose up, you won't punch the hole, hence the name. Shawn Morneau took a nasty beating here during the flow study.
Postage Due
This is one of the harder rapids on the run. The entrance is tricky, if you miss it you will get posted on the right rock at the top or the left wall at the bottom. The rapid finishes in a very pretty vertical walled gorge. You can do a short portage and seal launch on the right.
Live and Left Live
This rapid comes shortly after Postage Due. The rapid has a long lead-in and culminates in a riverwide 4 foot ledge that is best run on the left. Starting the rapid on the right gives you a nice charge to the left boof.
Left Over Postage
This is the last hard rapid above Post Creek. The line is through the left slot to a six foot drop. You don't want the right side. The entrance can be a little tricky.
Post Creek
Post Creek enters on river right at approximately river mile 3.5. This spot is easy to recognize because of the large log that crosses the river just below the confluence. From this location a trail on river right leads up to FS Road 21N65 . The hike out requires about 30 minutes. This access location can be used for emergency egress or as an early takeout location. This take out also reduces the shuttle distance considerably.
Stump the Chumps
Shortly below Post Creek is a rapid named “Stump The Chumps: The top portion of this rapids is typically portaged due to the log in the main channel. A short portage on the right allows you to put in and run the class IV bottom portion of the rapid. River Mile 4.3
Roland's Nightmare
This rather innocuous looking rapid has a horrible cave sieve about half way down the rapid. To make matters worse, a significant amount of water flows into the cave. The rapid is not hard, just junkie and consequential. It is possible to portage on the left. River Mile 4.5
South Fork Falls
This narrow 25 foot falls is a mandatory portage. It is easy to have this one sneak up on you. The portage on the right is fairly easy but may require a little rope work with the boats. River Mile 5.1
Stein Stuffing
“Stein Stuffing” is the last significant rapid on the run. It requires a drop into a narrow slot; if you get deflected at all you can get broached sideways and likely swim, as Dave Steindorf did during the flow study. The rapid can be easily portaged on the left. River mile5.75
Take-out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportThere is new wood everywhere in the run below the first gorge. All of it is passable, but much of it is in play. I'd estimate at least 15 pieces needed to be actively avoided or forced a change to the line. With all the dead wood from the fire, it's likely that the wood will get worse over the next few years.
We had 2 swims under logs. Approach with caution.
While a more advanced crew did the whole run, Jordan R. & I followed the instructions of Darin McQuoid (http://darinmcquoid.com/sffeatherL.html) to reach the 3-mile Class III section at the end of this run. Something I'd add, is to leave the Quincy La Porte Road at Google Map location 39.65722789965532, -121.01262924130909, and take the well-maintained fire road. You can head to the take-out and put-in from there. Regarding the put-in, once we got to a closed gate, we left the car and carried the boat down the overgrown trail after the gate, and then at some point, we left the trail and bushwhacked down. But we should have stayed on the overgrown trail much longer until we get 100 yards away from the river. We reunited with the crew running the upper section at our hike-in put-in (by luck), and we all took out at the Diversion Dam. The class III was lovely, even considering the damage of the recent fire, but watch out for wood in the river. Parking at put-in and take-out is tight.
For a much better descripting of this river that is not super outdated I recommend you go to this site for good info, beta and pictures
http://www.kayakphoto.com/darinmcquoid/sffeather.html
> Because water was held in storage longer at Little Grass Valley this summer, releases beginning August 17 and continuing through the end of September will be in the boatable range. The planned schedule we have received from PG&E is as follows:
> August 17 – begin ramping from 100 cfs to 250 cfs. Hold 250 cfs through September 1.
> September 2 – ramp from 250 cfs to 300 cfs and hold at 300 cfs throughout September. This will take Little Grass Valley to its end of September elevation of 5,022 feet, keeping the boat ramps at the reservoir in service until the end of the month.
> The 300 cfs flow will probably continue into October as the fall drawdown begins. I will let you know the updated flow schedule as we get closer to October.
> Can you please add to the flow information posted that campgrounds at Little Grass Valley begin closing after Labor Day, although many stay open through the middle of September. The Sly Creek Campground will be closed on October 1.
> Thanks for posting the information.
> Kathy Zancanella
> South Feather Water and Power Agency
The bad sieve is straight ahead in the background.
This is the last of three significant rapids above Post Creek.
Nice Drop below Trash Can Falls
This is the first significant rapid is in the the third gorge. (aka. Post Creek Gorge)
This log is a good landmark. It marks the end of the Post Creek Gorge. There is a trial on river right. It's not obvious at river level but if you climb up the rock promintory on river right and keep your eyes peeled you should be able to find the trail that will take you up to a road. This road will take you out of the canyon to Lumpkin Ridge road. This road sees a bit of traffic so in case of an emergency, one could hike up to Lumpkin Ridge and flag down some help. Otherwise it's mabe 6 miles back to the LGV Dam and then another mile or two to some cabins along the lake.
This is a tricky little rapid. It's the first significant rapid in the Post Creek Gorge (third Gorge). It has a weird fold in the entrance and if you don't make the move you'll end up 'Posted' against the right wall. Enter with bow left and bust across the fold.
This rapid is a good one to take a look at. The move is to boof off a the flat pour-over rock left of center. Then bust through a couple more stout holes.
Run It left to right and keep your nose up!
Portage on the Right
A little boat retrieval after getting stuffed.
There is a bad log in this channel. Portage right side.
Making the Left Over Postage
Rusty Sage running on the only known run of trash can falls. He broke his boat on this run. Portage recommended.
A drop in the middle of the second gorge.