Virgin, N. Fork

Had a nice run on 6/7 at 200 CFS with four packrafts.

Parked at Bulloch's Cabin (this will require you to drive across a knee deep Virgin River and a high clearance 4X4 but not a jeep.) It's a 4 hour walk from there to the confluence of the Virgin with  Deep Creek. Perhaps 100 stream crossings ranging from mid shin to mid thigh. While there are places where you could float on the Virgin before Deep Creek, there was never a section where you could have gone even 1/4 of a mile without getting out of your boat. At a higher flow (400 on the gauge?) it woul be doable, but there were a lot of wood obstacles in that section.

From Deep Creek to the end of the Riverside Walk takes just over 2 hours at 200 CFS. We ran the Kolob Creek rapid (went right under the wood), easily portaged the Campsite 10 rapid on the left (although that one was tempting), and portaged the Campsite 12 rapid on the right (not tempting at all, that's a deathtrap). There was another log all the way across the river downstream from Orderville. We tried to get under that on the elft, but two of us flipped on it so the other two chose to either portgage or swim under the right side.

At 200 CFS, it was easy to pull over before hitting any of the big rapids and there was very little buttscooting from Deep Creek to the end of the Riverside Walk. We never had to get out of our boats because the water was too low.

We decided to keep going, originally planning to float to the Court of the Patriarchs, but bailed out at The Grotto and got on the shuttle. It took another hour and a half and several portages around wood (including right after the Riverside Walk) but was markedly slower going than upstream had been.

All in all, at 200 CFS I would call it mostly Class 2 with a little Class 3 assuming you portage the biggest rapids.

At 400 CFS, you could probably put a hardshell in the river right at the main parking area and have a nice trip, saving that 4 hour walk to Deep Creek.

By the way, before dropping the 15 foot waterfall, if so inclined, I recommend you walk all the way around it on the bypass to scout. There was an impassable wood obstruction/strainer below it, just out of site.

There is a new rockfall just below campsite 10/Goose Creek that creates a class 4 rapid, just as the river bends right (37.33809, -112.95566). There's an easy eddy on river left. Portaging right would be tough but doable, with the put-in in swift water. Our kayakers ran the rapid while the packrafters and duckies portaged left (but not all the way left due to a strainer), and plopped down in a 1-boat eddy to resume down-river travel.

Rare beach in the narrows. 1/2 mile below confluence with Deep Creek

Portage around log jam.

Amazing

Narrows below Deep Creek.

Kayaking the narrows. Crazy rock formation on right. Looks like a face!

Campsite 13

Packrafted this 5/15&16/17 at 220-240 cfs. Hiked to Deep Creek which about tripled the flow. Would have been a tough, tough hike with hard boats - in and out of the water, squeezing thru vegetation, slippery, too shallow to float. I'm not sure at what level you could float from the ranch - maybe 400 cfs? The 15 ft waterfall is above Deep Cr and mostly blocked by a river-wide log about 3 ft above the water. Might be runnable with the right flow, but you'd launch while hunched over underneath the log. Easy obvious portage. Pretty easy paddling after Deep Creek with a handful of portages due to river-wide wood. Spent about 8 hours paddling from camp at Kolob Creek to Springdale, including a hike in Orderville and lots of scouting in the mile or so of class 4ish boulder garden near the park entrance. I'd call it a class 2 float at that level, but pretty unforgiving of lost of damaged gear or an injury. Getting out without a boat would be really hard. Logistics: You need a permit, which can be picked up from the backcountry permit office beginning at 7 am. Special floating rules: no hiking if the flow is over 150 cfs, and boating only if the flow has been between 150 and 600 for the last 24 hours. You can start your trip the day you pick up the permit if you are boating. There is good camping between Chamberlain Ranch and the park boundary and at 12 designated sites in the first half of the canyon within the park. It looks like the log jams come and go - be alert. You don't need to select or reserve a campsite. At the flow we had, you could pick up your permit, drive to the take out, hike in, and float the whole thing in a day, I think, but it would be close and rushed at best, and misses some of the point of being there.

Ran the narrows 6/19/2011. Run was in great shape, wood at kolob creek rapid was runnable. no portages necessary. this think is a gem, world class canyons, decent ww in spots, but the I-II sections are better anyway so you can look around. If you go, plan to overnight just in case. it's too great a place to blitz anyway. don't have an epic, and if you do, please self-extricate.

If you can't paddle it, do hike it. One of the most unbelievable hikes you'll ever take. You can do the full 16 mile hike (you need to get a permit the day before) or you can do it as a 'bottom up' from the Temple of Sinawava. You'll need a sturdy walking stick and shoes you can traverse the river in. Be ready to be hiking in the river more an half the time, but that's half the fun.

There is a dangerous log spanning between the left shore and the rock pictured. At this level it was very difficult to see until you were almost on top of it.

There is a log that is very difficult to see on the left side of this rapid.
Somewhere below Orderville Canyon.

View of the new Landslide Rapid from river left at 250cfs.

Looking down into the Landslide Rapid from the large boulder river right. Hard to tell how steep the drop is from this view, the line is very narrow at these flows (250), not sure what flows it would take to open it up more.

This is the view of the landslide rapid from the large pool that forms behind the slide. It is fairly easy to see this massive slide from 200 yards upstream.

A log jam on the way down to Deep Creek.