Eightmile Creek to ab. Abestos Creek Falls

A tributary of the Sauk River that enters near Clear Creek Campground a couple miles southeast of Darrington. The most commonly-paddled section is located in the middle of the drainage, above Asbestos Falls and below where FR 2060 crosses over the creek. It’s only about 2.5 miles in length but includes about 2 miles of quality whitewater when other nearby runs are on the medium-high side. Putting in at the bridge, there is a short section of class III that will probably feel on the low side when the main attraction is at a nice flow. Things start to steepen until you find yourself eddy hopping through several fun boulder garden and pool-drop style rapids. At moderate flows they will get up to class IV-IV+ in difficulty, and with more water the small lulls between rapids will run together and get into the V- range. A great little section of whitewater! You will want to make sure you can recognize your takeout, after the river mellows out and gets closer to the road, and before it starts dropping steeply into the gorge above Asbestos Falls. There are other sections of the creek that have been paddled, but will involve more difficult access, wood issues, unrunnable rapids, or all of the above. Above the typical put in bridge is a steep section that can collect wood, and wasn’t clean as of early 2021. Below the takeout the creek steepens quickly before going off of Asbestos Falls. The falls have been run, but with less than positive reviews. This portion of the creek might be better as a summertime canyoneering destination. Below the Asbestos gorge, there are three more gorge sections separated by open boulder gardens and a couple brief flat stretches before the confluence with the Sauk. After about 0.75 miles of flat water you arrive at a left then right bend into a brief steep large boulder garden that has some possible IV-V runnable slots at moderate flow as well as sieves, tapering into IV-III that separates into two channels around an island, the right leading to the confluence with Helena Creek before reconnecting again shortly after. From here it's III-II boulder gardens for 1/4 mile to a short flatwater bend then more III boulder garden then the river turns right leading into the first, longest and most dramatic gorge of the three, deep and steep and lasts for less than 1/2 mile. Boaters with a feel for slow scouting and portaging may be able to pick their way down. Be ready for some minor and/or major rope work. To our knowledge, this one hasn’t been run completely. It starts with a 400' IV-III boulder garden with nice open slots ending in a short pool and turning sharp right through a couple more III-IV drops before bending sharp left again into the unknown... looking upstream from the bottom of this gorge you can see a long very intense boulder garden with possibly runnable slots and lots of sieves. After this gorge is some boogy water before you arrive at a couple fun rapids. This section is directly downhill from Frog Lake and can be accessed by bushwacking down to the river, making for a short day that involves as much hiking as boating. You will want to get out right above where the creek curves around a bend and enters the most dramatic part of this canyon. This is the lead in to a stacked series of drops that ends in a large ~40’ falls, dubbed Clarity Falls by the boaters who poked around this area, for lack of a known name. To our knowledge this hasn’t been run. Portaging isn’t easy, but can be done on the right. This will lead you up over a steep hill and down into a beautiful pool at the base of the falls. Leaving the pool there's fun class III-IV including a couple entertaining technical drops. Then the river melows around an oxbow bend then splits around an island, then converges again into a significant rapid marking the entry to the last gorge, about a 1/3 mile long and containing several fun III-IV rapids. Alternatively, these sections can also be run by hiking up from the confluence with the Sauk. Worth it to be able to paddle up to the base of the falls and get some mental clarity in a very pretty place.