| Stretch: |
Rancheria Road to Mount Vernon Avenue |
| Difficulty: |
Class II (one III-), with brush hazards at high flows |
| Distance: |
10 miles, 1 day |
| Flows: |
rafts and kayaks 1000 - 3000, IK minimum 600
|
| Gauge: |
slightly less than release from Isabella dam
(ISB) |
| Gradient: |
10 fpm average |
| Put-in: |
Rancheria Road bridge near Rio Bravo ranch, 540' |
| Take-out: |
Mount Vernon Avenue bridge near Oildale, 440' |
| Shuttle: |
12 miles (15 minutes) one-way |
| Maps: |
Delorme Southern California, AAA Sequoia |
| Season: |
almost year round, from dam release below hydropower diversion |
| Agency: |
BLM, private |
| Notes: |
© 1998 Bill Tuthill,
CreeksYahoo |
This is a good beginner run for southern Californians,
but not worth the drive from northern California.
The river corridor, with surrounding orange groves,
seems like an oasis in the hot desert valley.
Many inner tubers ply the river, but in the cold river water,
they seldom make it as far as 10 miles.
- mile
- 0
- Put in on the left bank below Rancheria Road bridge.
- .3
- No Name, class III-
The run starts out with a bang, giving you little time to warm up.
At low flows, only a few left/right turns are necessary. At higher
flows, this rapid is a long train of high waves.
- 2
- Kern River group picnic area near Lake Ming, where many inner tubers
put in. The gradient eases a bit, with only class I-II rapids the
rest of the way.
- 10
- Take out at the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge, or at any convenient spot
along Kern River County Park, before gradient flattens out completely
and flow slows down to a crawl.
Upstream of Rancheria Road, there used to be a fine class III-IV run, now
dewatered by hydropower diversion. This upper Rio Bravo run can still be
boated when the release from Isabella dam exceeds 2200 cfs. It starts with
Hydro, a class III-IV boulder garden almost a mile long. At mile 1.1 comes
Scout Camp, a class IV- with big hole at the bottom. At mile 1.5 is an
unnamed class III-IV rapid with many rocks. At mile 1.7 is a mandatory
portage (on the left) of brush-choked Helicopter Rapid. Flows increase at
mile 2.2 where water from the new powerhouse empties in, and relatively easy
class II-III rapids continue to Rancheria Road bridge.
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