Trinity River and other California Canoe Routes

Hi All--

I'm part of a group that does a 4-5 day, self-guided canoe trip every spring/summer. We're about 12-16 guys, split pretty evenly between highly experienced/expert canoeists, fairly intermediate canoeists, and somewhat novice canoeists. We've traditionally done trips in Northern Maine, but as the group has expanded to guys spread out across the country, we've been trying to jump back and forth every other year between the eastern US and the western US.

I'm based in Los Angeles, and this year it's my turn to plan the trip. As I began searching for good options in California, I came across the Trinity River. However, I haven't found much online with regards to canoeing it, canoe outfitters, etc.

The big things I'm trying to figure out are:

1. Canoe outfitters that service the Trinity. Looking for an operation that can provide 5-7 canoes and transpo to the put in/pick up at the take out. So far, I've only been able to find outfitters that do rafts and kayaks.

2. River traffic on the Trinity in the spring/summer. I've found quite a few raft excursion companies that seem to operate in the area. If it's especially busy, it might not be the right river for my group as we tend to prefer more remote, low traffic rivers.

3. Good guide books for the Trinity/other California routes.

4. Other fun canoe routes in California/Nevada/Utah/Oregon. Ideally looking to find something that would be good for a 4-5 day / 3-4 night trip, with some solid Class II-III sections, and low water traffic. Also, the more remote the better.

Any info anyone here can provide on any of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Michael

Green River, Utah
Willamette River, Oregon
Birds of Prey, Snake River, Idaho
John Day River, Oregon

Hi Michael, first & foremost, welcome to the site!

You may want to check with the rafting/kayak outfitters to ask what the river is like. From my experience in this neck of the woods, I'd be skeptical of anyplace that has rafting/yakking outfitters but no canoe rentals.

Locally, that would indicate a river with class 3-5 rapids and a virtual guarantee that you'll never be tasked with open canoe trip planning again.

Michael, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, because canoeing is a geographic sport, please add your location to the Account Details page in your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar as a clickable map link. Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

As we discussed by DM, I canoed a class 2 section of the Trinity River 40 years ago and drove along it again 20 years ago. So, my personal knowledge is way out of date. 40 years ago, we didn't see a soul on the river and it was a very pleasant run in mountainous beauty. We canoed a section of the Klamath River the next day. 20 years ago, there were signs of raft companies on the Trinity but I didn't actually see any on the river during the weekday I was there.

The raft companies may be your best source of info for a trip that is suitable for the experience level of your group. There was no guidebook 40 years ago. I just had a phone number of a local who said, "Whatever you do, don't enter Burnt Ranch Gorge because you'll die." I'm sure there are California guidebooks now that you can find with internet searches.

ppine said:

Green River, Utah
Willamette River, Oregon
Birds of Prey, Snake River, Idaho
John Day River, Oregon

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Thanks for these suggestions. We've actually done the John Day with this group and a smaller subset who live in Oregon do it annually. It's a great river and I'd highly recommend.

Any particular stretch of the Willamette you'd recommend? I grew up next to the lower Willamette, very close to it's confluence with the Columbia, and can't imagine that area being very great for an excursion of our sort, but I'm much less familiar with the upper sections of the river.

Have seen the Green River pop up in quite a few discussions and it sounds like a good option. Will definitely be looking into that as well as the Idaho Rivers suggested.

Cheers!

Gamma1214 said:

Hi Michael, first & foremost, welcome to the site!

You may want to check with the rafting/kayak outfitters to ask what the river is like. From my experience in this neck of the woods, I'd be skeptical of anyplace that has rafting/yakking outfitters but no canoe rentals.

Locally, that would indicate a river with class 3-5 rapids and a virtual guarantee that you'll never be tasked with open canoe trip planning again.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

That's a good call on checking with the raft/kayak outfitters. I had a similar feeling about this w/ regards to Class 3-5, but from the maps I've found, it seems like there's a very solid stretch that is mostly Class 1-2, with some Class 3's mixed in, which is certainly something our group can handle and actually looks for.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Michael, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, because canoeing is a geographic sport, please add your location to the Account Details page in your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar as a clickable map link. Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

As we discussed by DM, I canoed a class 2 section of the Trinity River 40 years ago and drove along it again 20 years ago. So, my personal knowledge is way out of date. 40 years ago, we didn't see a soul on the river and it was a very pleasant run in mountainous beauty. We canoed a section of the Klamath River the next day. 20 years ago, there were signs of raft companies on the Trinity but I didn't actually see any on the river during the weekday I was there.

The raft companies may be your best source of info for a trip that is suitable for the experience level of your group. There was no guidebook 40 years ago. I just had a phone number of a local who said, "Whatever you do, don't enter Burnt Ranch Gorge because you'll die." I'm sure there are California guidebooks now that you can find with internet searches.

Click to expand...

Done and done.

You don't happen to remember the stretch you ran on the Trinity 40 years ago, do you? Or the approximate time of year?

MaineManEIC said:

You don't happen to remember the stretch you ran on the Trinity 40 years ago, do you? Or the approximate time of year?

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Big Flat to Cedar Flat, which is about 18 miles. Below Cedar Flat is the deathly Burnt Ranch Gorge.




@WHIDBEY ISLAND GUY and I paddled tandem in a Mad River Explorer in 1981 with no other boats. I'd say we were low intermediate whitewater paddlers. We could eddy out and peel out but nothing fancier.

The time of year was probably early summer. There were no big hydraulics and maybe one 3- rapid at the lowish level we paddled it at, maybe around 1,200 CFS. You can take out at French Bar or Hayden Flat to avoid the harder class 2 rapids and the easy 3. This run is described here:


. . . and here:


The next day John and I ran the Klamath River from Tree of Heaven Campground to the town of Klamath River. Schoolhouse Rapid was the hardest rapid on that stretch and the first solid class 3 rapid we had ever run. And the only one tandem. I moved from San Jose, CA, to Woodstock, NY, the following year.

I like the Willamette River below Eugene. We went about 78 miles to the take out but forget the name. Great camping, good beaches, plenty of shade. Fishing can be good at some times of the year. Few paddlers, a few power boats. Towns along the way a couple of places for re-supply.

One of the best sections on the Trinity River is Willow Creek to Weitchpec. At early summer flows a lot of Class II rapids which are somewhat technical. One Class III we lined. I know of no shuttle service. Very few paddlers and great campsites in the woods. Lots of wildlife including bears in camp. Salmon, trout and steelhead. Not the easiest trip for paddlers, but one of the best.