04. Access 6 to Access 1 (Beswick Run)

Near the California-Oregon border the Upper Klamath emerges from its rugged canyon and enters a broader valley where the gradient and rapids ease. For a bit over ten miles, the river traces a relatively mild passage as it winds a gentle valley bounded by steeper slopes and ocassional basalt cliffs. There are two distinct whitewater runs within this stretch, the upstream Class II+ Beswick Run and the downstream Class II Copco Valley Run. The Beswick Run begins at Access 6, the typical take-out for the Hells Corner Run, and finishes at Access 1. The river here was not inundated by the Klamath hydropower dams but its flows were controlled by them. Before dam removal in summer 2024, this stretch had adequate flows for boating only very late in the afternoon, because it took at least four hours for “peaking power” releases from J.C. Boyle Powerhouse over a dozen miles upstream to work their way down to this stretch. Today, with J.C. Boyle Dam and Powerhouse removed, the river flows steadily around the clock and boaters can enjoy a run any time they please. Most of the river side land are private ranchlands, largely owned by PacifiCorp. This scenic valley is rich in history and bird life. The river has a gentle gradient but is not without whitewater. Immediately below the Access 6 put-in, the river drops over a bouldery shelf, likely man-made, and then continues with a riffle-pool arrangement for the next 4.5 miles. The occasional island splits the flow and jogs in the river channel sometimes push the river against its banks. Expect some small holes and strong currents in places. At lower flows, some sections are rocky but not too shallow to be enjoyable. The Beswick Run can be extended in both the upriver and downriver direction.  Put in at the Stateline River Access to add a mile of Class II whitewater to the top of the run (be sure to put in below Stateline Falls unless you're seeking a much more difficult start to the whitewater). Or, add 6.5 miles of Class II whitewater by continuing past Access 1 and floating the Copco Valley Run to take-out just upstream of Class IV Wards Canyon (Note: as of late 2024 there is no take-out access prior to Wards Canyon so boating the Copco Valley Run requires also boting the much more difficult whitewater in Wards Canyon). The Beswick Run is slightly more challenging than the Copco Valley Run and the Iron Gate Run downstream of Wards Canyon, both of which were flooded beneath reservoirs until their dams were removed in 2024. Boaters are sometimes confused by the numbering of the access points along the Beswick Run. The accesses were numbered in ascending order for people driving upriver from the Copco Lake Community. Of the six accesses, only the uppermost (#6) and the lowermost (#1) are suitable for put-ins and take-outs. These accesses are owned and managed by PacifiCorp, the utility that formerly operated the Upper Klamath hydropower dams. They were provided at the request of the State of California in 1972 for PacifiCorp to provide access for hunting and fishing as mitigation for the hydropower project.