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Whitewater Packraft - Lower Owyhee River

Packrafted this beautiful river from April 21 - 25 with a flow of 1900, dropping to 1300 during our trip. At this flow, there were no Class IV rapids. Putin and takeout was very busy as perfect water levels but able to find camping and solitude once on the river.

Jean Nahan Jean Nahan
May 01, 2025
  • Road rough but passable

  • Pre-trip planning: Set up car shuttle with Judy's Adventures for $220 per car. We did not have clear information on the road condition exiting at Birch Creek (had been closed earlier) and one of our cars was a CRV without high clearance, we elected to exit at Leslie Gulch. To avoid 12mi of flat water paddling to Leslie Gulch at the end of our trip which is high risk for winds we arranged a boat taxi with Luke for $15O. 

Drive - carpooled on Easter, which was a problem finding an open restaurant on our drive down. Left Seattle around 830am and arrived Rome boat launch at 730pm. Free camping at the launch was very busy and no water. 

Water gauge at Rome 1900 cfu at start and 1300 at end of trip, this was ideal water levels. The weather was clear with night temps. 35-45 and daytime temps 58 - 65, very peasant.

Day 1 - 14 miles, Rome to Hikeout Camp. There is an irrigation rock weir within 1/3 mi of the launch that is not noted on the river gauge. It required scouting from shore as tricky.  We saw 3 more irrigation weirs, but older and easy to paddle through. The other hazards observed were old fences and agricultural metal debris on the shore. 

At Rm 6, we entered the canyon and left the agricultural land behind.  Bullseye rapids felt like a III with a move L manageable by everyone in our party. Sweetwater Rapids was long compared to the others. Wind at dinner time  10-12knt.  Hike to the rim was 20 minutes and amazing, on top can see 50 - 100 miles of the prairie. 

Day 2 - RM 14-25 to Caulk Canyon camp. 
The river guide did not note a tricky class III rapid between the upper and lower  Hackberry Camp, which required multiple moves to avoid rocks and a ledge. We did the hike to the remains of the Rustler cabin in a grove of trees located above a very muddy hot springs. Hike up the drainage on the left to avoid the muddy swamp. We hiked 30 minutes to the top of Lambert Dome from Chalk Canyon. Steep but lovely hike and great views. There was enough room for 3-4 parties at this camp area

Day 3 RM 25-37 to Tanager Camp, Day of class III rapids. 
Dog Leg Rapid is an S turn.  It felt like a class III as it requiresd a maneuver to avoid the wall and rocks at the bottom.
Whistling Bird Rapid is easy to scout on L with an aggressive left move a must, and everyone made it without problems. There are high consequences if unable to get left. |
Rat Trap Rapids -felt more like  a II with some rocks
Squeeze- felt more like a II, no problem
Montgomery- class III, longer with rock to avoid, but straightforward.
RM 30- 35 is a high wall canyon - really beautiful with a huge eagle nest on river left. Tanager Rapids felt like a II. Camped at Tanager, which was quiet as no other campers, small, sandy, but with some shade.

Day 4  RM   37 - 50  to  Birch Creek takeout.
Nuisance II  Rapids  with rock pillow to avoid.
Drinking water at Rhinehart Falls. The trail just passed the outlet stream. Beware of poison oak. 

Marcum dam II+ rocks to avoid than L. Miss Greeley hot springs. Read map wrong on L right before Upper Greeley. Lot of mellow II- along way, camped at Bc hike really nice

Day 5 RM 50-55.5 to boat taxi pick up just past Pinnacle Rock (spire close to shore). Thank goodness we had the taxi for as soon as we got off the water the wind picked up to 12knt with gusts to 15knt.  Rafts were working so hard and saw two partys give up several miles down in Leslie Gulch. 

The ride out in the boat took 1.5 hrs with fully loaded boat (4 people and all’s 7-person gear) and 20 minutes with 3 folks and no gear. The drive out of Leslie Gulch was 1 hour to  the main road - 95. It was a great trip and worth the 10 ride down and back.

Cost: car shuttle $220/ car plus $20 tip (x 2 cars). Boat taxi $150 gave additional $50 due to wind (best deal) =$680 ($96 each). 

Dinner after the trip at Bert’s Growler on Ontario ID.

On Mountain Town till N of Baker City. The Owyhee on Mtn time even though in OR.

Debrief - turning over load packrafts can take 2 persons, take the swimmer’s paddle so they can better help with rescue.

Beware poison ivy (oak) is present in many places. No rattlesnakes seen.