Pack

This section is a flatwater section called, understandably, the 'Lower Pack.'  It's a popular family paddle with a good put-in just across from the Pack River store (which is not a bad place to eat or get ice cream) and a servicable takeout at a bridge across the river at State Road 200.   I'd rate this Class I myself- I did it in an open lake canoe with my wife, a fat Labrador Retriever, a cooler of beer (as the river gods intended) with zero issues.  I would call it more bucolic than scenic, as you wind through a lot of nice ranches and wetlands with nice (though not stunning) scenery and occasional wildlife.  The river has some current to push you along most of the way, but aside from a little riffle soon after the takeout, no rapids to speak of.  There are a plethora of sandy beaches all along the route to take a break at, and a rope swing river left about halfway down.  The later in the season you go, the warmer the water gets, and in June and July you are basically paddling one continuous awesome swimming hole.  I'd say you could tube it, but the lack of current for the last mile or so might make you regret that decision.  Also a whitewater raft is total overkill, as well as a bummer to have to row for a mile of flatwater, but then again it might serve as a sweet diving platform for backflips off the front tube on a sunny day.

The takeout, as I said, is at a bridge along a fairly busy highway, and you have to schlep your boat 100 yards or so up an embankment to the side of the road, which would be a bummer for a larger boat.  Not that big of a deal, but FYI.

For more information, contact Ed Grove, 2420 N. George Mason Dr., Arl. VA 22207 and Idaho