Has anyone paddled upstream thru this canyon just below Hoover dam ? Yes, I know for a fee one can arrange a launch thru an outfitter below dam but curious about upstream travel the 11 miles from Willow beach to Gold Strike Hot Spring ?
We’ve paddled 53miles upstream on Colorado from below confluence to Potash. Is this section any harder ? NRA map shows only one rapid (Ringbolt) in this section. Thanx
Paddling Black Canyon
We paddled from Willow Beach up as far as it was legal to with no problems with loaded sea kayaks and camped for several days in the area.
No problem
When the power plant at Hoover is making a lot of juice, it can be a tough paddle, but still doable if you pick your line well.
When power demand is low, it’s an easy paddle. Ringbolt rapid is barely a rapid. I’ve paddled the stretch a couple times and never saw more than a slight riffle.
Very beautiful canyon, definitely worth doing.
Excellent !
Thanx to you both for the replies - exactly what we were hopeing to learn
You can do it
Even when the flows are up, just stay very close to the banks and you can catch all of the eddies. It can be a bit of a slog at times, but nothing anybody other than a first time paddler can’t handle.
If you plan on camping at Hot Springs Campground, you may need to paddle a bit upstream of it before you cross the river. There’s a rock right in front of the camground that you can eddy up behind to get out of your boat.
I have seen some people have to do more than one try to get behind it though.