Clearwater River - Upper

Contributed by David Wortley
What It's Like
Sabretooth Rapid to The Kettle
Class
IV
Scouting / Portaging
Roadside scouting, all portagable but you won't want to!
Time
3 hours
When to Go
Summer
Gauge
178.0cms↓ (May 7 03:05)
Sadly as of 2022 the road to this section got washed away and we're still waiting for a solution to appear too access this wonderful section.

For the hardy it's possible (although a huge effort) to hike down from Moul Falls, but this makes the shuttle incredibly long! the trail to the falls is easy but it takes 45minutes and then you have another 0.5km to get to the river.

Your reward is a long section of whitewater with some of the biggest wavetrains you could wish to paddle!  First up is Sabretooth rapid, a huge diagonal wave that when inspected from above on the road looks big, but when approaching it feels a whole dimension larger!  There's a large sharp rock to avoid right of center which is very obvious, and you don't want to be on the wall on the left below, this rapid has a long wave-train so a solid roll is needed as a swim would not be nice!

Huge Sabretooth Rapid - Photo Dave Wortley


There are couple of cruisy rapids ahead downstream, a lot of flat-water and then a few sections with some fantastic large lateral wave trains that are incredibly fun!

After some playwaves and some more flatwater you'll come to the rafting take-out above the Class 5 Kettle Rapid.  It's about 0.5km to walk-around and then you can get back on and enjoy the Play-Run down below.