Hazard Warning: Hazard information may be user-submitted and unverified. Conditions change frequently. Always scout rapids and obstacles yourself.
Rapid NM Class III

Dead Foot Falls

Rio Grande - 07. Quartzite River Access to County Line River Access (NM)

Monitor this Rapid
Gauge Conditions
Rio Grande below Taos Junction Bridge near Taos, NM Upstream Primary
Runnable: 200.0 – 3,000.0 CFS

Flows of 250 cfs are ok for floating from sleeping beauty to Souse hole without dragging.

Data from American Whitewater & USGS
Photo
Dead Foot Falls
Photo courtesy of American Whitewater
Description

The rapid is usually entered center or just right of center and the current takes boaters directly into the Fang/Nemesis Rock. The easier channel is on the left of the rock. Below Fang/Nemesis the river drops over the remains of an old diversion dam providing great standing waves below. The passage on the left of Fang/Nemesis leads to a wide channel passing over the rocks of the dam, but the channel to the right leads to a pool above the rock piles of the dam and usually a narrower channel then must be taken over the remains of the rock pile. Near the end of the wave train below the dam is Dead Foot, a large boulder on river left. At high flows Dead Foot forms an impressive hole. The top of Dead Foot Falls is easily scouted from the road, but portions of the remainder of the rapids can be obscured by brush.

Location
Type
Rapid
Difficulty
Class III
Mile Marker
1.6 mi
Directions
Navigate
View Full Run
07. Quartzite River Access to County Line River Access
Rio Grande
III 4.4 mi
Current Conditions
5-Day Forecast
Whitewater data from
American Whitewater