The Cal Salmon

  • Length: 10.2 miles
  • Gradient: 47 fpm
  • Difficulty: Class V
  • Season: Spring and Early Summer (snowmelt)
  • Rec. Level: 800 - 5,000 cfs
  • Agency: USFS
  • Permits: No
  • Put-in: Nordheimer Campground
  • Take-out: Wooley Creek

The California Salmon River flows between the Marble Mountains and the Trinity Alps in the Northern California Coast Range. Although it's quite a trek to get to the Cal Salmon from anywhere, it's well worth it due to the beautiful canyon, sparkling clear water, and awesome rapids.

Nordheimer - Class V

Raftin the Cal Salmon RiverThis is the classic! You'll put in at Nordheimer campground and have a nice warm-up before running the Class IV+ Bloomer Falls within the first mile. Below here, the river will keep you interested all day due to countless Class IV rapids and three Class Vs.

This run comes to an exiting climax with the final two rapids: Last Chance and Freight Train. Last Chance is a tricky rapids with a boat flipping hole at the bottom. This is particularly important because the big rapid Freight Train is just below here and a flip in Last Chance could mean a top to bottom swim through Freight Train. Those of you that have run Freight Train know this is a bad thing because it's a long, powerful rapid that funnels through a narrow opening between rock walls at the bottom.

Butler - Class IV

The Butler Creek run is just below the Nordheimer run and they are occasionally both done in the same long day. You'll enjoy the fun Class III and IV rapids and find that the Class IV+ rapid Gaping Maw can cause more problems than more difficult rapids on the Nordheimer run.

There are several places to take out and many people will follow the Cal Salmon all the way to the Klamath River. This is a worthwhile venture because there are several big water rapids. Big Ikes is the best of these rapids with huge holes and waves and it definitely deserves to be scouted.