Whitewater Run ID Class IV

4. Malad Dam to confluence with Snake River

Malad (aka Big Wood)

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Monitor
Gauge Conditions
Malad River near Bliss ID Downstream Primary
Runnable: ? – ? CFS
Approximate reading: This gauge is 1.6 miles away on Malad (aka Big Wood). Use as a general reference only.
Run Map
Description
See _Idaho: the Whitewater State_ by G. Amaral (Watershed Books, 1990). Lat / Longitude data are _very_ approximate. Note: according to Amaral, the USGS renamed this river "Malad" in the 1970's. However, at USGS websites, both names seem to work. At normal low flows, the upper section, above the first dam you come to, is short, .8 miles. But - its always runnable, with beautiful warm blue spring-fed  water which is about 55 degrees year round. If you hike .2 miles past a locked gate, there is an official kayaker putin (below another dam); or you can putin elsewhere along the road.  It starts easy and becomes quality class IV in the last 1/4 mile. A good line at the crux drop at low winter flows is to go right, like it looks, taking the drop with left boat angle to avoid the rock right below.  You can hike a few laps on that section. At 1500, the upper section looked sustained, and the right side gets tougher, with piton rocks in the middle. A narrow boof through a rock slot opens up on the left. The dam is a mandatory portage left, with a large takeout eddy. At high flows, the lower mile is popular with solid big water boaters. It ran over 2200 in spring 2012. Idaho locals still call it class IV, but "pretty continuous at 1300+". Put in below the first dam, that  you can drive to (there is a staircase for kayakers) and take out at the Snake access parking lot. Once you get accustomed to the dams and diversion canals all along this run, its quite a beautiful basalt-walled canyon. Some of the largest sagebrush I've ever seen is along the dirt road along this run; 7 foot tall sagebrush that give you an idea of what an "old growth sagebrush" ecosystem was like; a threatened, vanishing ecosystem that sage grouse, pygmy rabbits and others need for their survival.
Difficulty
Class IV
Length
1.9 mi
Rapids
0
Shuttle Info
From Bliss, head south on rt 30, then take a left onto a dirt road immediately after crossing the river A half mile up the dirt road is a diversion dam. If you are doing a high water run, most people put in below this dam. If you are doing a low water run, the takeout is above this dam, and the putin is .8 miles upstream, .2 miles past a locked gate. Park there and hike up, or just put in there. To get to the Snake river confluence, and takeout for a high water run, drive back down and cross rt 30, bearing right on a dirt road. There is a parking lot and bathroom on the left before you cross over the Malad. In 2011 it appeared ok to camp there.
Difficulty Classes
I Easy II Novice III Intermediate IV Advanced V Expert/Extreme VI Unrunnable
Current Conditions
5-Day Forecast
Whitewater data from
American Whitewater