Our award winning camp is perfectly located to allow us to explore the Upper Klamath after the historic dam removals. Giving us access to both the traditional class IV+ Wild and Scenic ‘Hells Corner’ section of the Upper Klamath and the newly restored Kikacéki Valley and Class IV+ Kikacéki (Wards) Canyon in an action packed 2-day trip.It is an active, comfortable, and quick wilderness escape combining the ‘old’ with the ‘new’ for one of the most unique trips in the U.S
Please note: The Upper Klamath post dam removals is a whitewater playground with less regulated flows – our itineraries are always subject to change in order to accommodate fluctuating water levels.
2-Day Upper Klamath Itinerary
Day 1:
Getting there, ‘Hells Corner’, and camp……
We pick guests up at their hotel in Ashland between 8 and 9 in the morning and head up the edge of where the Cascades meet the Siskiyou’s to the “put-in” at the Spring Island boat launch. 6 miles below the restored site of JC Boyle Dam. We will have a continental breakfast while the guides are getting the boats ready and do a short safety and orientation talk. After that we hop into the boats and begin the trip downriver.
The Upper Klamath begins with a fun class-III warm-up stretch which makes it a recommended rafting trip for first-timers or experts in good health. After about 3 miles of warm up the canyon constricts, the river drops out of sight, and we enter the famous “Hells Corner” section of the canyon – beginning with a 150 yard rapid known as ‘Caldera’. At most flows the rapids will be steep and technical and our boats will have only 4 guests and 1 guide so we are light and nimble enough. Somewhere in the canyon we will pull over for a big lunch.
In the afternoon we will pull into our comfortable riverside Upper Klamath Bush Camp. The afternoon and evening can be spent hiking, fly-fishing, playing games in the sun, or just hanging out. We will serve appetizers, a big dinner, and dessert.
Day 2:
A restored river a spectacular and imposing whitewater canyon, and a big finish…
Day 2 is a big day! After a hearty breakfast and plenty of time for a second cup of coffee we will say goodbye to camp and float into California and through a few medium sized rapids before the canyon opens up and the bigger whitewater takes a breather. If water levels permit, there may be a chance to jump in inflatable kayaks.
We will stop for another big lunch and eventually float into the restored Kikacéki Valley, ancestral land of the Shasta Nation, and former site of the Copco Reservoir. This mellow and meandering stretch highlights how quickly the river corridor is coming back alive with thriving riverside plant life and eagles and hawks keeping a sharp eye out for fish and critters.
We end with Kikacéki Canyon, one of the more dramatic and imposing canyons on the West Coast and the most concentrated section of whitewater of the trip. The Kikacéki canyon entrance once loomed over the end of the valley, but then it was hidden for 100 years – blocked and flooded on one end by two dams and at the other by a reservoir, and then dewatered by a hydro power system. Unless you were randomly hiking over sharp assault lava flows, you would never know it was there.
The canyon is back and the vertical columnar basalt walls quickly close in, the whitewater turns back on, and we pass between two dismantled dam sites into a section of river that had almost never been run before late 2024. The rapids are continuous with only one real break in the entire stretch – just long enough to truly admire the beauty of the canyon. And then we end with one of the biggest rapids of the entire trip, the mighty Kikaceki Falls.
We finish the trip on the California side of the Siskiyou’s and return to Ashland around 6 in the afternoon.
Please Note: This trip is perfect for experienced and first time paddlers (and for those who find regular camping to be not their cup of tea). However, the rapids are technical and the trip is active – all guests need to be in good physical condition. If you have any questions or concerns please give us a call or an email.