Middle Fork American

        The crystal clear waters of this river run through a deep wilderness canyon of exceptional beauty. The lower run is suitable for novis rafters who have done their homework regarding river features and navigation skills.

Drivers Flat Rd to Mammoth Bar: Class 2 about 7 miles. A dirt road runs from Foresthill Rd down into the canyon to the starting point. (A limiter number of camp sites are available for early comers) This is a nice, uncrowded intermediate run with lots of fun, splashy rapids. The canyon had extensive placer mining operations in the 1800s but you can hardly tell. In summer the flows from the upstream power release arrive around 2:00PM or later making this a nice afternoon run. The run takes about 3 hours if you don't rush it. Takeout is at the Mammoth Bar OHV (motorcycle) area. It is very important to not drift past your takeout spot since there is a knarly class 5+ rapid just downstream that's extremely difficult to portage. You can see this rapid from the lower section of road during your shuttle if you check from the little shoulder spot. Click here for run slide show.

Oxbow Reservoir to Drivers Flat: Class 4-5 with a mandatory portage. 17 miles. This run requires an expert guide with years of experience. This is the Tunnel Chute run where rafts flush through a chute blasted out by miners and float through a large tunnel at the bottom. Near the end of the run is a mandatory portage around Rucka-Chucky rapid, a class 6. This is followed by several class 4 drops. You'd want to see this run as a passenger one or two times and have a few seasons guide experience before attempting it. Slide Show