[Red West]

Just wondering, how does Colorado rank for whitewater compared to other states? I know there are a lot of factors to consider, but is there a site that ranks the states for whitewater access?

 

[WhiteLightning]

I guess it depends on what kind of whitewater you want access to. If you want wilderness multi-day raft trips, then low. Accessible roadside day trips-high, low volume technical creeks-high(?), high volume "big water" low, freestyle/play opportunities- ??. Paddling community-awesome.

I've done 99% of my boating in Colorado, so maybe someone better traveled than me could give a better answer.

 

[ballbuster]

California

 

[PaulGamache]

Cali, no question about it. Hood River alone would make Oregon way closer to 2nd then CO would ever be.

 

[Geoff773]

Having spent the last three years in Oregon, I am biased but that is my vote. Lots of multi-day options, varying levels of day trips, lots of remote runs, and best of all it runs almost year round. California and Washington are fun as well but you can access both of them from Oregon so i'll stick with that decision.
Recently moved to Colorado and started kayaking so my priorities may change soon.

 

[yetigonecrazy]

ive got 5 generations of colorado in me but even I have to give props to the Pac NW- Wash, OR, or BC.....the water is cold and the weather sucks but there is an abundance of quality year round water, and when everything is in season there is way more runs than colorado could ever dream of having.....


california just has a lot of acreage which = more runs, sorry, science doesnt lie......but i dont think it has the season like the pac nw

 

[rideon]

Cali all the way.

Colorado born and raised...California is the bitchinest. There was never a weekend when we didn't have options for running stuff.

but this discussion will rage on...

 

[C-dub]

Pac NW. Mostly from the year round perspective. Their"down time" is summer. Seasonal is all relative.

 

[RealityCheck]

ive got 5 generations of colorado in me but even I have to give props to the Pac NW- Wash, OR, or BC.....the water is cold and the weather sucks but there is an abundance of quality year round water, and when everything is in season there is way more runs than colorado could ever dream of having.....


california just has a lot of acreage which = more runs, sorry, science doesnt lie......but i dont think it has the season like the pac nw

Yeti, why the fuck are you always talking about shit you know nothing about??? Everyone knows you have never paddled any of those places. Relax and just boat, son. One day, if you have actually gotten out there, you may have an opinion worth posting.

The acreage of Cali does NOT have much to do with the quality...Why TF doesn't Texas have the sickest WW if its all size?
It's the geology, steady vertical rise, climate zone, precip patterns etc...

 

[yetigonecrazy]

yeah, just because i havent paddled there doesnt mean i havent BEEN there.....

just relax and quit trying to feel big and manly and one day you wont be such a wannabe kato, bro

 

[xkayaker13]

Hey, give the yeti a break. If he wasn't around then who would people rip on?

 

[WyoPadlr1]

Too bad you want just one state. CA, WA, OR, ID, CO, WY, MT all have their charms. But, 15 separate trips to Cali would tend to make me vote for it. Yeah, WA and OR might have longer "seasons" but CA has better weather, warmer water, and you can boat year-round in CA if you're willing to do a little driving. That, combined with so many miles of perfectly smooth Sierra granite boulders to paddle around, make it pretty tough to beat.

 

[FrankC]

For a kayaker, I would have to say West Virginia beats the hell out of anything out west. Primarily because you can boat year round while in the west most everything is strictly seasonal especially the creeks. Throw in the relatively warm water, pool drop rivers and hundreds of runable creeks and you can't beat it. Possible whitewater "user day" opportunities are exponentially higher than lets say CO. I wouldn't want to live there, though.

Just wondering, how does Colorado rank for whitewater compared to other states? I know there are a lot of factors to consider, but is there a site that ranks the states for whitewater access?

 

[phlyingfish]

Okay here's my obligatory vote for Idaho. While there are very few creeks to speak of here in southern Idaho, we make up for it with big rivers flush with rapids. Northern Idaho offers creeking, uncrowded big rivers, and more wilderness than your state, unless you're in Alaska. Play options range from decent in the off season (Bliss Wave and the incoming WW park) to epic when the flows are up (Boise, Payette, Snake, and Salmon). Multi-days are abundant and diverse in these parts: desert canyons ranging from IV-V to II-III, the big permit runs are ultra classic, newly uncovered creek epics like Hazard Creek, or you can head into the Yellow Pine zone (shown in the upcoming LVM edition) and link up a number of runs like an overnighter all-you-can-eat buffet. Did I mention that certain runs have banks carpeted in gourmet mushrooms if you time it right?

Plus, I don't know of another city besides Bosie where you have a guaranteed class I-V in after work range every single day from April to October. That's leaving town at 5:30, on the gnar by 7:00, easy. No waiting for rain, no praying for flow, no lack of daylight during the summer. I've done WV and while there is a staggering amount of runs, you'll be hard pressed to have the water to actually paddle them most of the time. Cali is certainly sweet, but there aren't many places to hold down a job and go boating afterwards, so you're confined to weekend warrior status there. Yeah, Idaho may not be year round, but if you actually paddle all season here you'll need a break. Hood River is a reasonable drive (5.5 hours) and fires up just as the Boise area starts to wind down. Lastly, Boise will be installing a white water park within a year or two, and if we are to belive the designers there will be something to play on even at low winter flows.

-Mark

 

[spartankayaker]

Portland has plenty of after work paddling

Okay here's my obligatory vote for Idaho. While there are very few creeks to speak of here in southern Idaho, we make up for it with big rivers flush with rapids. Northern Idaho offers creeking, uncrowded big rivers, and more wilderness than your state, unless you're in Alaska. Play options range from decent in the off season (Bliss Wave and the incoming WW park) to epic when the flows are up (Boise, Payette, Snake, and Salmon). Multi-days are abundant and diverse in these parts: desert canyons ranging from IV-V to II-III, the big permit runs are ultra classic, newly uncovered creek epics like Hazard Creek, or you can head into the Yellow Pine zone (shown in the upcoming LVM edition) and link up a number of runs like an overnighter all-you-can-eat buffet. Did I mention that certain runs have banks carpeted in gourmet mushrooms if you time it right?

Plus, I don't know of another city besides Bosie where you have a guaranteed class I-V in after work range every single day from April to October. That's leaving town at 5:30, on the gnar by 7:00, easy. No waiting for rain, no praying for flow, no lack of daylight during the summer. I've done WV and while there is a staggering amount of runs, you'll be hard pressed to have the water to actually paddle them most of the time. Cali is certainly sweet, but there aren't many places to hold down a job and go boating afterwards, so you're confined to weekend warrior status there. Yeah, Idaho may not be year round, but if you actually paddle all season here you'll need a break. Hood River is a reasonable drive (5.5 hours) and fires up just as the Boise area starts to wind down. Lastly, Boise will be installing a white water park within a year or two, and if we are to belive the designers there will be something to play on even at low winter flows.

-Mark

Not voting per se, just clarifying that Portland has several rivers within an hour's drive (leave work at 530 and on the water at 7). Though it may not include tons in the Class V range, there is plenty between Class I and IV. In fact, from April through October there are organized after work paddling groups on both the Upper Clackamas and White Salmon. That said, Boise is sweet and I love the water over there.

 

[deerfieldswimteam]

I want to give a shout out to the Northeast, the whole of which is about the size of CO. Friendly community, nice rivers, and incredibly beautiful when the leaves turn. And some steep creeking, if you're into that sort of thing.

Of course, I still think CO is better.

 

[whitewaterjunkie]

The cover feature from the most recent Paddler Mag:

Paddler Magazine Online : Why Aren't You Here?

 

[phlyingfish]

"I want to give a shout out to the Northeast, the whole of which is about the size of CO. Friendly community, nice rivers, and incredibly beautiful when the leaves turn. And some steep creeking, if you're into that sort of thing.

Of course, I still think CO is better."

Ain't nothing wrong with the good old Northeast, especially if you include New York and the area of Canada within two hours of the border. You can always count on the Deerfield for some nice III+ boulder slalom boating outside of the rainy season. New York may have the best bedrock class V east of Cali along with some killer play when the flows cooperate. The play elsewhere is not terrible either, what with the ocean, any number of local glory holes, and relatively easy access to the sickness that is the Ottawa and Lachine. The downsides are that the hard stuff is totally rain dependent, the gradient doesn't last very long, and everything is spread out. There is no single decent-sized town with quick access to a lot of quality, although Burlington and maybe a couple towns in the boonies of Maine have some claim.

 

[lhowemt]

And what can beat the Lochsa for a 30 mile day run? Rapid after rapid after rapid, Pipeline anyone?

Okay here's my obligatory vote for Idaho. While there are very few creeks to speak of here in southern Idaho, we make up for it with big rivers flush with rapids. Northern Idaho offers creeking, uncrowded big rivers, and more wilderness than your state, unless you're in Alaska. Play options range from decent in the off season (Bliss Wave and the incoming WW park) to epic when the flows are up (Boise, Payette, Snake, and Salmon). Multi-days are abundant and diverse in these parts: desert canyons ranging from IV-V to II-III, the big permit runs are ultra classic, newly uncovered creek epics like Hazard Creek, or you can head into the Yellow Pine zone (shown in the upcoming LVM edition) and link up a number of runs like an overnighter all-you-can-eat buffet. Did I mention that certain runs have banks carpeted in gourmet mushrooms if you time it right?

Plus, I don't know of another city besides Bosie where you have a guaranteed class I-V in after work range every single day from April to October. That's leaving town at 5:30, on the gnar by 7:00, easy. No waiting for rain, no praying for flow, no lack of daylight during the summer. I've done WV and while there is a staggering amount of runs, you'll be hard pressed to have the water to actually paddle them most of the time. Cali is certainly sweet, but there aren't many places to hold down a job and go boating afterwards, so you're confined to weekend warrior status there. Yeah, Idaho may not be year round, but if you actually paddle all season here you'll need a break. Hood River is a reasonable drive (5.5 hours) and fires up just as the Boise area starts to wind down. Lastly, Boise will be installing a white water park within a year or two, and if we are to belive the designers there will be something to play on even at low winter flows.

-Mark

 

[will raft 4 beer]

Another shout out for Oregon here--beautiful rivers everywhere, rainforest, NO off-season. But the logs are an issue for creeking; we don't have as many yakers with mini chainsaws cutting the wood back. Figured I'd mention Utah and Arizona; hard to beat the river that holds the mighty Colorado through the Grand Canyon. I do miss CO though.