Santa Fe, New Mexico Play Wave?

[markknight]

The May June issue of paddler magzine - Whitewater Park section says Santa fe has a play wave. Is this true? Where is it located.
It also says its on the Animas river. Is this a mistake. Is there another Animas? I will be in Taos over the 4th of July weekend and looking for some good play spots. Any suggestions?

Mark

[kalancp]

Yeah, even paddler gets it wrong sometimes. The Animas doesn't come close to Santa Fe, and the only whitewater park is irrigation ditch work that the city did to the Santa Fe River, which is the run off for the city's water supply. There are some cool 3-4 foot drops, but I almost got strained last time I ran it, its max flow is like 70 cfs, and its super manmade and sketch.
There is a good play wave (depending on water levels), called sleeping beauty, on the Racecourse section of the Rio Grande. The racecourse has like 5 class III rapids, and the wave is between Big Rocks and Souse Hole, the last 2 rapids. The Racecourse is along the highway between Taos and Santa Fe south of Pilar. The Taos Box is a III-IV run in the gorge outside of Taos, although not too much play on the run.

Clint

[godot]

There are two good play waves on the state park run, class II. Karmic wave is just above the start of the Racecourse put in. There used to be parking right above the wave but it has been blocked off, but it does show right where it is. Also, and probably the better spot, is at Gauging Station. There is parking right above the spot along the state park road.

And the race course has lots of good spots to play but you will need to run the whole thing.