| Class: | IV at 45 cms and class V at 60 cms | ||
| Flow: | Nanaimo River gage is between 40 cms and 60 cms. | ||
| Length: | 1.8 km | ||
| Portages: | 1 | ||
| Gradient: | 3 %, 8 % for steepest 500 m | ||
| Season: | fall - spring after good rain, also with snow melt | ||
| Put-In: | Bridge over Nanaimo River upstream of Green Creek | ||
| Take-Out: | At the shack by the river. A little road goes right down to the river. Just before heading up the steep part of the road. | ||
| Link: | Online Gauge | ||
| Link: | Google Directions to Put-In | ||
| Link: | Map Quest |
Interactive map:
Map script: techrageo
Back to: Overview River Map
Run description:
This amazing run packs plenty of excitement into a relatively compact package. It has continuous high quality bedrock drops that start easy and build up to a class IV double drop in the first four rapids.
There are some more easier read and run drops, then a bigger ledge-drop with an undercut/cave on the right side. Everything is boatsoutable or easy to scout at river level.
A couple of fun, steep boulder-gardens later and the cliff walls rise substantially on both sides of the river. There is a waterfall cascading down on river left. At this point, get out and scout on river right. The constricted ledge drop below is called ‘Birds eye’, since that was about the best view you can get to scout it originally. Basically, boof right with as much speed as possible. It is a class V drop that can be portaged with friends and some rope work at river level on river right. The portage adds about an hour to the run.
There are a couple more fun drops before an easy mandatory portage on river right around an amazing feature. Three 50 foot falls cascading into a bowl and under a rock bridge over the whole river! Just below the archway, at the base of this waterfall is a 2 stage drop that sports a sticky hole on the 2nd drop that’s backed up by the river left wall. The log in this photo below is no longer there and makes for an easier set up on the line. These two drops are quite a rush!
This challenging double drop has easy set up for safety and moving around at river level. **SCOUT the next drop** After some boulder mank, comes the most dangerous rapid of the run: In the pool below the aforementioned double-drop, enter far left and then work towards the river-center for a 10 foot falls. Don’t be tempted to eddy out right above this drop (rather, get out in the pool way above and walk down to scout), because the river left eddy above filters into a dangerous pin/sieve situation and river right immediately above is a dangerous pin-slot as well. These falls are very scenic and a classic for kayaking, but do command some respect. After the falls, there’s one more minor rapid below with a surprisingly stout hole, a couple more class III, then it’s just class II to the takeout.
Other runs on the Nanaimo River: