I'm planning a two day canoe trip from dewey bridge to Moab in April. I havent done this section before. Anyone have information on this section? camping, class, difficulty, priv. prop.
April is a good time to do it since the water will still be moving. I'd call it big water Class II/III. It's very scenic, but mostly flat. There are some good campsites just past Onion Creek, on the North side of the river (no road access), and there are several developed campgrounds on the South side. I think it's mostly BLM w/ some private. I'd guess the flows could be around 15-20k, so it will be interesting in a canoe. Have fun!
The Dewey Bridge to Moab is a great trip, if fact I'm doing a section of it tomorrow, We will put in down from the bridge to make it a one day trip. After you leave Dewey Bridge put in, just a few miles down river is Bull Canyon on your right. It is a short but very worthwhile hike, even kids can do. It's very beautiful and very worth while to do, if fact it would be the only reason for me to put in at the bridge, since I've done that section numberous times. Whenever I go with someone who hasn't done the trip I always take them up the Canyon.
Even thought you are running along a highway, you cannot see it a lot of the times and it is so beautiful of a section you forget there is a highway even there.
Even though some kayakers might not agree, there are some fun rapids on the river and I have seen people take swims. If you have a apprication for rivers and natural beauty you will enjoy this trip. Their is great camping on white beachs, looking across from Fisher Towers. Sitting on the beach, drinking a cool one after a day on the water and watching the sunset and the beauty of the towers, the mountains and the spires; is priceless.
Enjoy!
Larry
I forgot to mention a good map to have is the National Geographic waterproof Moab Bike map. It even has river miles on it and it's a great map for doing just about anything in Moab and the surrounding area.
Larry
The stretch is all flat from dewy to a camp ground called Hittle Bottom. When i say flat i mean not a ripple. But after that it continues to be flat for about a mile then goes into some white water from the onion creek campground on, (right after that set there is a nice place to camp only accesible by river on rivers right.) THe rapids end at a place called sandy beach, then its flat from there on. Hope this info helped
Yep, sounds good, thanks for the Info. Kendarflugen, when did you see 15-20k in April?? The Col. hit that in late May - June the past several yrs, but that would be a hell of a early run-off to be that high in April. Talk about a huge big sur.
If you're planning to go in regular canoes you should consider floating the 23 miles from Cisco to Hittle Bottom. Its still a beautiful reach and there's camping along the way. Just avoid Fish Ford if its on a weekend. I made the mistake of camping there on an overnight last summer and went to sleep to the sound of an RV's generator and woke to the sound of target shooting.
As an alternate canoe trip, consider the White River below Rangely.
Have a good trip!
--Andy
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Nothing in the world is more yielding and gentle than water. Yet it has no equal for conquering the resistant and tough. The flexible can overcome the unbending; the soft can overcome the hard. - Lao Tse
There's a cool mtn bike ride from the LaSal's in the castle valley, down to the Onion Creek canyon. It is 26 miles, and mostly downhill (except for a few nasty climbs). Anyhow, pretty cool. I've boated from Onion Creek to Sandy something I think, and it was mostly booze cruizing rapids with some flatwater. As they said, really pretty though, worth a float.
I've done this trip a couple of times. Once, somewhere along "the daily" part (sorry, but I don't really know the run), we came upon a commercial group that had just flipped 2 of their 3 18-foot rafts. I guess that they were running really close and went into some hole that they had successfully run the day before. Not that day. They had folks scattered along the bank for about the next mile.
The hole was easily missed.
It was along that stretch where the river is away from the road.
It was spring.
Flow was about 11-12k.
That's all I really recall.
Keep your eyes open and you'll be fine. (Really, I was leading a novice downriver that day).
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