California Creeks

Welcome to this whitewater boating web-guide. River descriptions include recommended flows for different crafts and links to real-time flow data. Most creeks are not boatable all year, so check flows beforehand.

Rainy Season Favorites American North Fork American South Fork Arroyo Seco Big Sur River Cache Creek Cache Creek Upper Carmel River Cottonwood Middle Fork Eel Outlet Creek Eel South Fork Illinois River Mark West Creek Navarro River Rancheria Creek Redwood Creek Russian River San Lorenzo Smith Middle Fork Smith North Fork

Spring Snowmelt Favorites American North Giant Gap American South Fork Battle Creek Bear Creek near Redding Cache Creek Cache Creek Upper Carson East Fork Eel Pillsbury Eel Main Fork Deer Creek Kaweah near Three Forks Kern, Forks of Kings Banzai run Merced near El Portal Mokelumne North Fork Pauley Creek South Silver Tule River Yuba North Fork

Summer and Fall Favorites American Middle Fork American South Fork American Main Cache Creek Clear Creek Fordyce Creek Kern River Lower Klamath River Upper Klamath Happy Camp Mokelumne River Putah Creek Lower Rogue River Russian River Sacramento River Stanislaus North Fork Trinity River Truckee River Tuolumne Cherry Creek Tuolumne River

© 1997-2025 Bill Tuthill et al.
CAcreeks is a network of friends who enjoy gravity-assisted river recreation. Please email corrections to me at ccreekin.

River Descriptions

• Alphabetic Index links to 187 runs A to Y
• Recommended 82 runs ordered by difficulty
• Relief Map map of 82 runs north to south
• Season by Season suggestions by time of year
• Alphabetic Table details of runs from A to Y

Additional New Stuff

• Added writeup of the Eel below Van Arsdale
• Update of the N Fork Umpqua in Oregon
• Writeup of the upper McKenzie in Oregon
• Update and photos of Middle Fork Feather
• Writeup of the entire S Fork Payette in Idaho

Flow and Snow Information

• California and western river Dreamflows
• AWA California river information and flows
• Frequently updated Western Snowpack Data
• Northern California ski conditions, webcams
• Snowpack maps: California and western US

Fun Photos

• Carnage Gallery 1 the out of boat experience
• Carnage Gallery 2 big boats are photogenic
• Carnage Gallery 3 with class I-V rating scale

Comparison Tables

• Cyrillic from Greek table of derivations
• Rafting Companies links to outfitter websites
• Boat Dealers a list of equipment providers