Payette, S. Fork
2 - Deadwood River to Danskin Station (The Canyon)
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 12 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Payette; South Fork Below Deadwood Confluence |
| Flow Rate as of 30 days | 1793 cfsstale data |
| Reach Info Last Updated | July 7, 2024 |
River Description
The canyon section of the South Fork Payette is an Idaho classic. It is a beautiful III-IV run, in a deep remote canyon. Best of all is its long season and clean, clear water.
The standard put-in for this run is the Deadwood River Access. If you put in here it allows for a couple miles of warm up with good class II and a couple of class III rapids that are easy read and run. Some run this section as a continuation of a run that begins upstream at Mountain View.
You approach the 'point of no return' when passing Pine Flats Campground. There are excellent hot springs on river right and this is your last chance to easily abandon the run. After a long, calm stretch of flatwater you will enter Gateway (III+). Enter right of center and work your way to river right.
The real action begins soon enough as you enter S Turn, a big class IV read and run with lots of waves and a few holes to avoid including a big one at the bottom left.
Some fun class II-III read-and-run follows, ending with Hard Hat, a big wave train and a large hole in river center.
Next up is Big Falls, a class V to VI drop which is a portage for most. It has been run a few times (a couple times inadvertently), but at spring flows some enormous holes form in the bottom half of this intimidating drop. The rapid comes up quickly after Hard Hat and is marked by a couple of warning signs (the first on river right and then a second marking the start of the portage on river left). The lead in class II is not hard but be sure to make the eddy on river left just before the river drops off the edge into the abyss of Big Falls. Anyone who has the skills for this run should not have a problem making the move, but it can be a little intimidating as the consequences of missing the eddy would be severe.
The portage trail on river left is well worn and although it is not an easy portage for rafts, some people do it including outfitters who run trips on this section. A little scrambling
...River Features
Deadwood Put-In
The Deadwood River Access at road mile 29.9 is the standard put-in for this run and provides for a class III warm up before you pass Pine Flats and enter The Canyon.
Pine Flats Camgpround
This Forest Service Pine Flats Camgpround at road mile 27.9 serves as an alternate access point for kayakers. It skips the class III warm up rapids and puts you in at the start of The Canyon. The campground is a great base area for kayakers planning to run multiple canyon trips over the course of a few days. Sites 5, 6, and 7 have trails that access the river. It's a climb from the bench where the campsites are located down to the river (i.e. not recommended for rafts). This campground can also be used as a take-out for kayakers looking for a class II-III run that begins at Mountain View and builds in difficulty as you approach Pine Flats. A parking area for day-use is also available for those not spending the night. As an added bonus a beautiful hot spring right along the river can be enjoyed from this campground.
Gateway
First rapid below Pine Flat Hot Springs. Normally run down the middle.
Big Falls
This rapid has been run a handful of times by expert paddlers but for most it is a mandatory portage. A set of two signs (right and left) mark the approach and a third sign marks the preferred eddy to exit the river (kayakers sometimes proceed downstream to the eddy just above the drop). A well-worn trail heads up and over to a large rock outcrop at the base of Big Falls. This rock has a good platform for a seal launch into the pool below where the group can gather before heading downstream.
Lower Blackadar
This rapid changed in 2016 as a result of the forest fire. A boulder rolled into the river left side, and a difficult-to-avoid hole was created to the right of this boulder. Fight you way to river right or commit to crashing the curling hole.
Lone Pine
When driving up, you can scout your line from the road pull-out just downstream. From the river, the rapid is recognized by the large concrete retaining wall along river right. The standard line is to catch the eddy on river right at the top of the drop and then peel out with a right to center move.
Surprise
The 'Surprise' is a large hole at end of the rapid on river right. You can take the left line at the final drop (easiest), sneak right by hugging the cliff, or boof the pourover (hardest). This rapid is not readily visible from the highway.
Kayaker Take-Out
The Kayaker Access which is an alternate take-out used by kayakers is at road mile 21.9. It is an unmarked roadside pull-out with a decent trail down to the river. You can recognize it by the small bedrock island on the river right side of the channel that is just upstream of the access trail. Eddy out at the downstream end of this island and make the strong ferry across to river right to hit the take-out.
Danskin Station Take-Out
A long ramp serves as the raft takeout. This is also the normal put-in for Swirly Canyon.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportFun trip with a small group from Pine Flats down to Danskin that then continued on through Swirly Canyon as we picked up more friends there. We launched at Pine Flats around 10:30 am and got to Big Falls around 11:00 am. We had some shenagins associated with a dropped paddle at the portage, chasing it down, and pulling out a breakdown in the meantime that ended up taking nearly 30 minutes. We were down to Lone Pine by noon and reached Danskin a bit before 1:00 pm. This was a good flow for those who are looking to step up for their first canyon run. The rapids are nicely filled in but without the push in between that comes at higher flows.
We had a run the Main Payette with a big group earlier in the day and were camped at Pine Flats. It was still hot in the late afternoon but we did not have time for a full run. We got a ride up to Deadwood and paddled back to camp for an enjoyable evening of class III whitewater paddling back to camp. It took up about 45 minutes.
Cyn Taylor, Megi Morishita, Alden Riogeist, and Steve Andrews get in a quick Canyon trip from Pine Flats down to the kayaker take-out before meeting others at noon in Banks for a trip down the Main.
We had a fun run down The Canyon with Tom O'Keefe, Cyn Taylor, Jens Riogeist, and Alden Riogeist. We were camped at Pine Flats so just hiked our boats down the hill and boated down to the kayaker take out. It was a great flow with clean lines and plenty of recovery time between drops but it was busy. Great solid class IV.
We had a fun run down The Canyon with the parents. I only pulled out the camera at Little Falls.
A trip for the adults down the South Fork Canyon with Tom O'Keefe, Megi Morishita, Omar Jepperson, Cyn Taylor, Joel McCune, Paul Janda, Steve Corsi, Web Peirce, and Kathleen O'Malley.
Right line at little falls. September 2014
The parents got out for a day on the South Fork Canyon.
Photos from The Canyon.