Steep Creek to Ryan-Allen Bridge

This is a novel run in the Columbia Gorge that sees less attention than the classics, but is worth running. It's generally class 3-4 with two serious rapids that are easy to portage. The first mile or two down to the Steep Creek bridge is mostly class III-IV with a couple notable exceptions. From the highest put-in by the road bridge the creek is generally shallow and usually has at least one log portage. For this reason, many people start the trip just below an island about 1/3 mile below the bridge where the road is close to the river. This starts the trip with some fun, small ledges before turning into boulder garden rapids. The boulder gardens end briefly at a short gorge containing a 7 foot ledge that can be a bit tricky to scout, but is worth at least looking at it from the road on the way to the put-in or from the river on the left. At medium and high flows catching an eddy above it can be tricky. Usually its run off the hump in the middle, erroring to the left as there is a unpleasant pocket on the right. The hole at the base is not generally any cause for pause. A short distance downstream from the ledge the creek makes a distinct right turn at Heaven and Hell, Class 5. Scout these two waterfalls and the portage from the road or the river on the left. For those not up to these demanding drops, ortaging is easy and there are several options for returning to the river including an exciting slide down a small gully directly next to the second, biggest waterfall, a vertical seal launch further to the left and a narrow trail leading down to the river further to the left. A short round of rapids continue down to the Steep Creek bridge, where Steep Creek itself cascades in from the right (this tributary falls has been run, but the pool has filled in with sediment and its no where near runnable as of 2015). Below the bridge things ease off for awhile, with the occasional interesting rapid. Watch for wood, but its common to get down this run without any wood portages. After a long bit of easier floating, a class 3 rapid after a sharp right turn leads into an area with bedrock walls and commands serious attention. Immediately below this class 3 the creek enters the lead in to Three Swims Falls, a drop almost everyone will choose to portage. It is imperative that boaters catch an eddy at the base of the class 3 rapid on the left as people have gone an eddy too far, or missed the eddy and gone over the falls blind before. Don't let this spot keep you from doing the run, just take it seriously and don't shy away from scouting your take out eddy before running the class 3 rapid. The class 3 can even be portaged. Three Swims Falls is portaged on the left along a convenient shelf, next to a tributary falls. Safety can also be set on the left. Three Swims Falls immediately flushes into another rapid, one on the class V end of things. Sometimes people portage the falls and run the rapid. Downstream of Three Swims there are 3 significant rapids to look out for. The first is the long boulder garden directly after portaging 3 Swim Falls and the boulder garden below it. Immediately below this rapid the river pools up before a short gorge. The entrance runs along the left wall and then splits into 2-3 slots depending on flow. The left slot is the most commonly run but the middle has been run as well. Try to look carefully for wood before committing to either slot. After a few Class 3 rapids, the river plunges down an interesting rapid with a channel down the left and a channel down the right consisting of several slides. There has been a recent landslide which blocks the right channel near the bottom so be particularly careful at high water as it is difficult to stop above the rapid to scout. The left channel at high water ends in a large hole. Most people take out at the bridge upstream of Spring Creek. From here down to the Ryan Allen Rd bridge, the creek has a couple fun rapids before becoming completely flat all the way to Ryan Allen Rd. bridge. Downstream of the Ryan Allen Rd bridge are two big waterfalls, the bottom is pretty famous, and is called Money Drop. Both have been run numerous times. Gauge: Rock Creek once had a gauge that was available online from 2008-2013. Currently only the gauge height can be ascertained, and even that must be done in person where Rock Creek flows under the Ryan Allen Rd bridge. *Here is a rough correlation showing the relationship between the gage height and cfs.* Gage Height--CFS 9.00--454 10.10--701 10.50--904 10.80--1,050 11.00--1,160 11.50--1,490 11.90--1,810 The foot gauge is under the Ryan Allen Rd bridge. 10' is usually a nice low flow where the big drops are runnable class V, and the in-between are still enjoyable. 10.5-11' is usually a medium range approximately. The EF Lewis @ Heisson can be used to estimate when Rock Creek will be in. It's not a perfect correlation, but it's something. 1,000 cfs is minimum and correlates to about 500 cfs in Rock Creek. 2,000 cfs in the EF Lewis will be closer to medium. Rock Creek falls faster than EF Lewis so take that into account.