Perhaps the most popular run on either of the Salmon River’s two forks, the Methodist Run from Methodist Creek River Access to Forks of Salmon offers six miles of intermediate difficulty whitewater suitable for all types of whitewater craft. The run is technical at lower flows, full of play at medium flows, and has lots of large waves at high flows.
Class II rapids begin just below the put-in and keep up their pace in the first half mile before the first long pool on the run. The river then bends right and the gradient increases slightly and the river picks up pace, but always in a pool-drop arrangement. At high water, rapids start to flow together.
The Elvis Trilogy provides the first taste of the class III drops on this run with Elvis Presley's Mother (III), Blue Suede Shoes (II+), and Graceland (III). After this trilogy, the river continues with mostly class II and easy IIIs for a couple miles, going underneath Cecilville Road along the way. The gradient decreases slightly in the middle section of this run but there's enough to keep anyone interested. Most of the rapids in this middle section of the run are unamed, but the longest one is named Highway and can be easily seen from the road during shuttle.
About a quarter mile below the confluence with Knownothing Creek (river left) the river flows over a wide boulder bar that is shallow at all but high flows. Rafts may need to offload and push and even kayaks and packrafts will have to bounce their way across the boulders to get to the main flow that re-accumulates on river left. This is the only boulder bar in the Salmon River system that challenges boaters in this way at regular flows.
After the boulder bar, the river passes Missouri Bar and enters a narrower gorge. The gradient increases, the river narrows, and rapids become more exciting. It is this section, the lower two miles of the South Fork Salmon, that offers the greatest concentration of rapids on the Methodist Run. Named rapids include Constriction, Upper Indian Crossing, Lower Indian Crossing, and McNeal Creek rapids. The pace continues almost all the way to the confluence with the Salmon River at Forks of Salmon before the gradient decreases.
Continue paddling past the confluence with the North Fork Salmon for another 1/2 mile on the mainstem Salmon River to reach the take-out at the large and obvious beach on river right.
Logistics
_Put-in_
Put in at the willow-encroached beach on the river right upriver side of the bridge at Methodist Creek. There's a stage gage on the right side of the bridge support.
_Take-out_
Take out on the large sandy beach on river right that is at the bottom of the unmarked river access road at mile-marker 17, directly opposite the white community club building in Forks of Salmon. Alternately, continue for four more miles on the
Forks Run (class II) to take out at Nordheimer River Access.
Flows
This run is in at medium flows between 2,500 and 6,000 cfs on the Somes Bar gage. It is boatable below 2,500 cfs but will be shallow in spots, especially above Knownothing Creek, the largest tributary to the lower South Fork Salmon River. Above 6,000 cfs the run has far fewer eddies and the current is quick. There are exceptional surf waves and playspots at the upper half of the medium flow range into the high flow range. The run takes on a big water feel in sections above 8,000 cfs and is runnable at even higher levels but lacks eddies, is swirly, and has standing trees in the water along its banks.
There's a stage gage on the right side of the bridge at the put-in, although you'll have to have your own frame of reference for what it tells you, so its mostly useful for boaters who frequent this run (hint 3.5 feet = lots of surf)
Once in the cell-free Salmon River watershed, use any of the public phones to get the latest flow reading from Waterline: 1-800-452-1737 and enter 063221 to get the Salmon River at Somes Bar gage reading. One of these phones is near mile-marker three on Cecilville Road, which is about halfway between the take-out and put-in for this run.
Camping & Amenities
Camping is available nearby at several Forest Service campgrounds. The year-round, free
Hotelling Campground is located near mile-marker four on Cecilville Road, midway along the Methodist Run. The
Matthews Creek Campground is three miles above the put-in (closed in winter; $10/night). Most boaters, however, camp at the year-round
Nordheimer Campground located four miles downstream of the take-out ($8/night), and it's a nice extension of the run to paddle all the way to the campground by linking into the
Forks Run on the mainstem Salmon River.
There is no cell phone service in the Salmon River watershed but public phones can be found near this run at mile-marker three on Cecilville Road, by the Forks of Salmon post office, and at Nordheimer Campground.
Additional Information
The best guidebook for this run is Dan Menten's 2016 classic _New School Guide to Northern California Whitewater_(p. 102).
Salmon River Restoration Council's Whitewater Recreation Page \- great overview and detail on the whitewater of the Salmon River drainage
Salmon River Hazard Map \- map of known hazards in the river and tributaries