4) Dos Rios to Alderpoint Wild

This is a great multi-day river trip that is often overlooked but can be worth checking out in the spring. In some years flows last through Memorial Day weekend. Look for something above 1,500 cfs for rafts, but it’s still a good kayak self-support trip at lower flows. There is some disagreement about what difficulty level the river is, and at what flows. A previous description of this river stated that 'at moderate flows (1500-10000 cfs) the run is class II with half a dozen class III rapids.' That may be true for expert kayakers. However, as of April 2024, the river is a solid Class IV run at a flow of ~5,400 CFS, and I would consider that flow to be High, with as many as four Class IV rapids and numerous additional Class III+ rapids. The river's remoteness, low visitation, and lack of available mile-by-mile river guides adds to the sense of difficulty. In addition, many of the Class IV rapids appear around blind corners. In general, the difficulty level above 5,000 CFS is somewhere between the Rogue and the Tuolumne. This 50-mile trip is typically run over 3 to 5 days with some nice sandy beaches that make for good camping and plenty of opportunities for hiking and exploration up side canyons. From Alderpoint, you can also continue down to Fort Seward (8mi) for more Class II floating, or all the way down to the SF confluence for another day of easy paddling. Other Information Sources: Cassady & Calhoun, Holbek & Stanley, Schwind, Penny River Description on California Creekin.