Anybody ever Raft the Rio Grande from Rio Grande Dam Colorado or around Creede to Chiflo Campground in New Mexico? what is the class, fly fishing, camping, fishing, putin's and Takeout locations, raft trailer? I'm thinking about a fishing trip, day trips or camping.
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"I hope others think more of me than I think of myself" SL
Upper: Put in at River Hill CG below the reservoir. Take out at a bridge below the canyon. You'll know it when you see it. Can't remember the number. About 7 miles. III-. Fishing in a beautiful canyon. Loads of salmonflies. Might see a moose.
Lower: Put in at the bridge upstream from Wagon Wheel Gap. Take out at the bridge at Lower Coller SWA. About 14 miles. IIish. Really straight forward. Good fishing during salmonfly season... early June. There are moose in the SWA. Pretty.
Riverhill is a nice FS campground, but tends to fill up in the summer. There's a commercial campground at Wagonwheel Gap and couple more in Southfork.
__________________ You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you.- Heraclitus of Ephesus
Steve was kind enough to post the standard beta for the standard "upper" and "lower" Rio Grande runs, as per EF, AW, the bible, etc. However, I think youre looking for a little more than that.....
There is trailer accessible launching at the public access just before Wagon Wheel Gap, and at Collier State Park just above South Fork. Below that there isn't a whole lot. It's flat from South Fork to Alamosa, barring a few irrigation dams and other assorted ranching debris, and not very interesting. After Alamosa its flat and meandery through the swamps until its past Trinchera Ck and the Conejos, where it enters a small canyon, but is still totally flat all the way to the CO 142 bridge, where there is undeveloped and primitive access. From there down to the Lobatos bridge a handful of miles downstream is still totally flat, but with more undeveloped/primitive access at that bridge, people doing a flatwater paddle between the bridges isn't altogether uncommon. That's also the last road access for a looooooong ways. The true "Rio Grande Gorge" starts here, just below the state line, and is class I-II- all the way to either the Sunshine Trail or the Lee Trail, both of which are steep ass trails up the gorge wall, and obviously, NR for rafts. From here down to Chiflo is the "Razors" or "Razorblade" section of the RG, which is supposedly IV/IV+ down to the start of the Upper Box.
Your best bet with a raft is either the lower stretch from Wagon Wheel to Collier; or the bridge-to-bridge section just above the state line. The fishing I would wager to be pretty good along any of these stretches; the camping, where it isn't private, is probably meh to decent, if you can find a flat spot in amongst the basalt. The birdwatching is supposed to be le fantastique. To really go after anything below the stateline you really need a one man craft, or be able to safely your boat through the Upper Taos Box so you can take out at John Dunn. Take your pick!
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every time you eat a steak a hippie's hackey sack goes in the gutter
UPDATE: I went back after posting and looked at this stretch in Google Earth, it's high res the whole way and offers a great view of the whole run. It looks good to go from South Fork down until just above Del Norte, where there is a nice looking low head dam. From there to Alamosa I count 13 individual river wide irrigation features. Inevitably some of these are probably runnable, and some are not, and you can likely portage some or them and some you likely can't. There is a LOT of meanders and old river channels as well.
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every time you eat a steak a hippie's hackey sack goes in the gutter
Yeti added lots more useful info. I don't know the river at all below Southfork, but I understand there can be decent German Brown fishing. Flat is the word. And some irrigation structures to contend with, as Yeti noted.
The takeout below the upper canyon has reasonably good trailer access. The river below that goes through several ranches, and I have heard from flyfishing guide pals that there can be some troublesome ranchers and a coupla tricky bridges. For scenic beauty, the upper is hard to beat and truly uncrowded. The Wagon Wheel to Collier section is much more civilized, i.e. lots of riverside houses. The first part through the gap is really pretty with volcanic palisades. Last time is was down that section was a ducky trip with my wife and another couple. I was kicking myself in the ass for not bringing my flyrod. The stoneflies were everywhere: up your nose, in your armhairs, under your sunglasses. And there were fat trout gulping 'em.
The other thing I'd add is that the flows are dependent upon Rio Grande Reservoir releases. Downstream from the "upper" canyon there are several tributaries that drain the Weminuche and a couple from the La Garitas to the north, but the serious water comes from the dam. I'd suggest looking at historical flows for guidance. The "upper" section can be pretty bony for a raft if the dam ain't flowin'.
__________________ You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you.- Heraclitus of Ephesus
I wouldn't be posting info about runs that I haven't actually done.
There's good putin at a bridge south of Creede. Between the Creede creek junction and the next highway bridge, several fish drops have been built which probably create the most interesting whitewater between the wilderness canyon and NM.
Small boats would like the class II run on the South Fork from the Park Creek bridge to South Fork. There is a nasty ledge just below the PC bridge which can be avoided by putting on downstream at the large highway turnout. Watch out for barbed wire across the river above the Beaver Creek bridge.
The reach above Del Norte is swift, pretty with volcanic cliffs in places and few houses. The dam above Del Norte is at least ten feet high and portaged on the right.
A lot of water usually gets taken out of the river between Del Norte and Alamosa with not much return flow until the junction with the Conejos.
You'll see lots of wildlife in the reach below Alamosa thru the Refuge, but tall vegetation along the banks limits the view.
Between CO-142 and Lobatos Bridge is a shallow canyon that ends where there use to be a diversion dam. At the location where the dam used to be is a long class II rapid that would be a pain in a raft unless you have really high water.
I just started rafting last year. I floated from Coller to Hannah Lane,about 8-10 miles of class I &II water. Great water for flyfishing. Hannah Lane,which is about 5 miles west of Del Norte is probably the lowest take-out. There is a place to back in a trailer there. There are also numerous ramps from Rio Grande Res. down to South Fork.
I wouldn't be posting info about runs that I haven't actually done.
well you are you and i am me. and i like to make sure the information gets to the people who need it. and its really not hard to do a little research on a subject and git yerself edumucated on it......
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every time you eat a steak a hippie's hackey sack goes in the gutter
Upper: Put in at River Hill CG below the reservoir. Take out at a bridge below the canyon. You'll know it when you see it. Can't remember the number. About 7 miles. III-. Fishing in a beautiful canyon. Loads of salmonflies. Might see a moose.
I was thinking about camping in this area and boating the wilderness canyon 4th of July weekend. I am trying to figure out the flow, but I can't find a gauge for below the dam. Wagon Wheel Gap seems to be the nearest, but from the map it looks like there are several tributaries that come in before it. What is a good way to estimate an accurate flow for this stretch?
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