North Fork Rogue

Takelma Gorge

Dreamflows

No. Rogue - Above North Fork Res

Current flow:

7/2 (daily-avg)

No. Rogue - Above North Fork Res

850 cfs (est)

The run I am writing about is known as the Takelma Gorge section of the North Fork of the Rogue River and has been described in the book Paddling Oregon Rivers. I am writing this description because the book does not describe the upper part of this run and only mentions its existence in passing. I feel that as far as difficulty and quality of rapids are concerned, it makes for a more consistent run to put in at this upper section, which starts at the bottom of Natural Bridge. It is worth looking at Natural Bridge just for the pure spectacle of seeing a river go entirely underground. Needless to say, you don't want to put in above Natural Bridge.

This run as a whole has periods of action interspersed with long sections of flat water. But you probably won't feel cheated by a lack of non-stop rapids because when you aren't negotiating fun class IV and IV+ rapids, you will be gawking at the beauty of the river. If you don't fall in love with the lush splendor of this run you are too jaded for your own good. You should probably quit kayaking and move to the desert and stare at the dust and sand for a few years until you are ready to appreciate this brilliant gem.

The run starts off with about a half mile of easy water, and then picks up pace when a few class IV rapids of varying degrees of difficulty appear. Be wary of a 25-foot waterfall. I would rate it a class V+ because it has a fairly large hole in front of the drop, a guillotine rock on the right side of the top of the drop and a very big re-circulating hole at the bottom. It is not what I would describe as a nice clean drop. Portaging on the right was workable but I suggest portaging on the left if you get out in time for that option. Look forward to a few fun little drops in the next couple miles. The next major rapid of note is just above Woodruff Bridge (about mile 4), which is a possible put in or take out. The bridge should be within view from river level. It is easy, as well as fun, to sneak this one on the right. The left side, where most of the water goes, seems very tight and quite possibly junky. If you do want to run the left side you should take a look first. From Woodruff Bridge there is another 3.7 miles of paddling. The first mile following the bridge is mostly flat water. Takelma Gorge appears after the river bends to the left and enters a bouncy rapid. There is a shallow eddy on the left at the bottom of this rapid. This is the last chance to get out and scout the first few rapids of the gorge. Once in the gorge you are committed to running the first few rapids. So, unless you are like that one guy I know who runs everything blind, (no I won't give out his name as that wouldn't be nice, and if you're reading this you know who you are!) you will want to get out and scout here or before the bouncy rapid. The gorge is tight, fun and fairly continuous as well as spectacular. There is a river wide log hazard about halfway through the gorge. It was fairly easy to portage on the right side at 800 cfs. After the gorge opens up, the river is class II for 2 miles to the take out at River Bridge Campground. You can also paddle down another five miles past River Bridge Campground to North Fork Reservoir if you feel the desire to add more class III.

Take-Out - to get to the take out from I-5 in Medford, drive east on Highway 62 (Crater Lake Hwy) past Lost Creek Reservoir to the access road for River Bridge Campground.
Put-In - to get to the put in continue driving east on Hwy 62 to Natural Bridge.

The shuttle for this run is simple easy and quick, so the time you usually spend shuttling is better spent drinking beer at the take out!

Difficulty and flow ranges are estimated as follows (key word here is estimated since I haven't run it at a lot of different flows yet).

  500-1200 cfs     class IV+

  1200-2000 cfs     class V-

  900 cfs     Optimum flow

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500-1200 cfs	class IV+
1200-2000 cfs	class V-
900 cfs	Optimum flow

North Fork Rogue

*Takelma Gorge*

Takelma Gorge