BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

Kayaking, canoeing, rafting & tubing in Stanislaus County, California, USA.

This run provides 70 miles of class I-II boating.

A. La Grange to Turlock Lake State Rec Area, class I-II, 10 miles (A)
B. Turlock Lake State Rec Area to Waterford, class I-II, 13 miles (B)
C. Waterford to Fox Grove, class I, 7 miles (C)
D. Foxgrove to Legion Park, class I, 10 miles (D)
E. Legion Park to Shiloh Fishing Access, class I, 11 miles (E)
F. Shiloh Fishing Access to Durham Ferry SRA, class I, 20 miles (F)

River flow data updates:
• USGS Real-Time Water Data - Tuolumne River near La Grange CA. (upstream from A)
• USGS Real-Time Water Data - Tuolumne River at Modesto CA. (downstream from E)

Tuolumne River Map, Road Map, Terrain Map & Topographic Map.

• The map is interactive - click and drag to adjust the location. Map user FAQ.
• Point on the red markers to see their names. Use the tool on the left to zoom and pan.
• Map button = road map. Terrain = 3D shaded topo map. Topo = topographic map.
• Full-Screen Topographic Map - Tuolumne River Parkway - Lower Runs.


• More landmarks in Tuolumne River Parkway - Geographic Coordinates. Copy/paste the coordinates below into the search box at Google Maps or into the Find box at Acme Mapper.
N 37.66575 W 120.44106 - USGS river gauge above La Grange
N 37.66643 W 120.46234 - La Grange Regional Park (A)
N 37.62946 W 120.57632 - Turlock Lake State Park (B)
N 37.63490 W 120.75897 - Waterford (C)
N 37.61967 W 120.84549 - Fox Grove Park (D)
N 37.61460 W 120.92560 - Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
N 37.62256 W 120.95334 - Tuolumne River Regional Park.
N 37.62293 W 120.97321 - Legion Park (E)
N 37.62710 W 120.98722 - USGS river gauge at Modesto
N 37.60335 W 121.13113 - Shiloh Rd Fishing Access (F)
N 37.60583 W 121.17409 - San Joaquin River confluence.
N 37.68817 W 121.26022 - Durham Ferry State Recreation Area. (G)

Driving Directions, Distance, Estimated Time & Road Conditions.

Mapquest provides directions, distance & time from your house to the river.
• From Davis, CA to La Grange, CA - driving time 2 hours 14 minutes - 125 miles.

California Road Conditions (Delays or closures due to weather, construction, etc.)
• California Travel Information - highwayconditions.com.
• Road Conditions - California Dept Transportation.

Local weather in Modesto, California.

Online River Guides & River Flow Data for Paddle Boating.

• Tuolumne River Parkway Whitewater Boating Directory. (Set display options - alphabetical 100. See sections 1 & 2.)

Whitewater Guidebooks - Tuolumne River Parkway.

• Paddling Northern California by Charlie Pike. (pg. 176-182, La Grange to Fox Grove)
• Ann Dwyer's Easy Waters of California North, 2000. (pg. 244-249, La Grange to Durham Ferry SRA)
• Down the Wild Rivers- A Guide to the Streams of California, 1972. (pg.149-151, La Grange to Waterford)

Tuolumne River Parkway Trip Reports.

• I'm happy to post or link to well-written, whitewater boating trip reports from guest authors, especially if boating pictures are included. Please contact me to submit your trip report.
• Tuolumne River Canoe Trips During Oct & Nov - Golden West Women Flyfishers.

Whitewater River Recreation Links - Tuolumne River Parkway.

• Tuolumne River Parkway Recreation Directory. (Set display options - alphabetical 100. Section 1=whitewater, 2=rafting, 3=conservation, 4=fishing, 5=camping-hiking, 6=local-info)

More about:
• San Joaquin River Valley Region - California Whitewater Paddleboating Guides.
• Whitewater River Kayaking, Rafting, Canoeing & Innertubing Guides for California.
• How to use guides to white water river rafting and kayaking - BRT Insights.
• California River Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.

IceRocket Tags: kayaking, canoeing, rafting, river tubing, float tube, river map.
Tags: kayaking, river map, paddle boating, river, Tuolumne River Parkway, Stanislaus County, California.

Labels: guide

Kayaking, Innertubing, Rafting & Canoeing in Stanislaus County & San Joaquin County, California, USA.

This run provides 50 miles of class I-II paddleboating from Knights Ferry to the San Joaquin River confluence.

Stanislaus River flow data updates:
• Stanislaus River flow at Orange Blossom Bridge - CDEC.
• Stanislaus River flow at Ripon - California Data Exchange Center.

Road Map, Terrain Map & Topographic River Map.

• The map is interactive - click and drag to adjust the location. Map user FAQ.
• Point on the red markers to see their names. Use the tool on the left to zoom and pan.
• Map button = road map. Terrain = 3D shaded topo map. Topo = topographic map.
• Full-Screen Topographic Map - Stanislaus River Lower Run.


• More River Landmarks - Geographic Coordinates. Copy/paste the coordinates below into the search box at Google Maps or into the Find box at Acme Mapper.
N 37.81879 W 120.66693 - Knights Ferry Recreation Area (A)
N 37.80639 W 120.72086 - Horseshoe Road Recreation Area (B)
N 37.79134 W 120.73013 - Honolulu Bar (C)
N 37.78866 W 120.76288 - Orange Blossom Recreation Area, river gauge (D)
N 37.78544 W 120.80433 - Valley Oak Recreation Area (E)
N 37.77723 W 120.85304 - Oakdale Recreation Area - Oakdale Ponds (F)
N 37.73746 W 120.92407 - Riverbank Recreation Area (G)
N 37.74238 W 120.94239 - Jacob Meyers Park (H)
N 37.75393 W 121.01199 - McHenry Avenue Recreation Area (I)
N 37.73076 W 121.10963 - Army Corps Park, Ripon River Crossing, river gauge (J)
N 37.72039 W 121.15537 - Mohler Road (K)
N 37.69598 W 121.20006 - Caswell Memorial State Park (L)
N 37.68817 W 121.26022 - Durham Ferry State Recreation Area (M)

Driving Directions, Distance, Estimated Time & Road Conditions.

Mapquest provides directions, distance & time from your house to the river.
• From Davis, CA to Oakdale, CA - driving time 1 hour 37 minutes - 90.86 miles.

California Road Conditions (Delays or closures due to weather, construction, etc.)
• California Travel Information - highwayconditions.com.
• Road Conditions - California Dept Transportation.

Local weather in Oakdale, California.

Online River Guides & River Flow Data for Stanislaus River Paddle Boating.

• Stanislaus River Lower Run Whitewater Boating Directory. (Set display options - alphabetical 100. See sections 1 & 2.)

Whitewater Guidebooks - Stanislaus River Lower Run.

• Paddling Northern California by Charlie Pike. (pg. 170-175)
• Ann Dwyer's Easy Waters of California North, 2000. (pg. 240-243)
• Sierra Whitewater - A Paddler's Guide ... 1974. (pg. 116-123)
• Down the Wild Rivers- A Guide to the Streams of California, 1972. (pg.140-148)

Stanislaus River Lower Run Whitewater Trip Reports

• Please contact me to submit your trip report. I'm happy to post or link to well-written, whitewater boating trip reports from guest authors, especially if boating pictures are included.
• Busy - Cowboygrrl 09aug2010
• Kayaking Knights Ferry Stanislaus River video - lunaticrider209 25may2010
• Kayaking Knights Ferry Stanislaus River video - lunaticrider209 30april2010
• Russian Rapid on the Stanislaus River video - lookihaveacamera 24april2010
• Kayaking Knights Ferry Stanislaus River video - lunaticrider209 08april2010
• Stanislaus River Family Rafting video, 08aug2009
• Stanislaus River Rafting with Sunshine video
• Level-2 rafting & waterwar near SF Bay Area, video 19july2008
• Dylan goes tubing on Stanislaus River in Knights Ferry video
• Trinity watertubing on Stanislaus River video
• Summer08 Camping: Rafting Stanislaus River video
• Stanislaus River Rafting with Sunshine video

Whitewater River Recreation Links - Stanislaus River Lower Run.

• Stanislaus River Lower Run Recreation Directory. (Set display options - alphabetical 100. Section 1=whitewater, 2=rafting, 3=conservation, 4=fishing, 5=camping-hiking, 6=local-info)

More about:
• San Joaquin River Valley Region Whitewater Paddleboating Guides.
• Whitewater River Kayaking, Rafting, Canoeing & Innertubing Guides for California.
• How to use guides to white water river rafting and kayaking - BRT Insights.
• California River Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.

IceRocket Tags: kayaking, canoeing, rafting, river tubing, float tube, river map.
Tags: kayaking, river map, paddle boating, river, Stanislaus River, whitewater, California.

Labels: guide

Adventure on a big water class I - II river by guest author KenD.

We started our kayak trip with a put in at city of Anderson, CA. (Shasta County, California, USA) 10/08/10 River flow approx 6600 cfs measured upstream from Bend, CA (flow gauge USGS). Temperature was 54 degrees. Sacramento River Redding to Red Bluff (map & boating guide).

My wife Sharon and I are new to kayaking. Our opinion of what is easy or difficult water is based on very little experience with moving water. We drove up to Anderson CA a day early so we could check things out. We found two different put in spots. 1) We had read on the internet that we could put in at the end of North St. There is a small parking lot where North St comes close to the river at the end of Downing St. where you can walk down to the river bank. It is fairly easy access to carry a kayak. 2) We launched at the Anderson Public Fishing Access ramp next to Anderson River Park on Rupert Rd. The Anderson Public Fishing Access is a nice cement boat ramp where you can back your vehicle to the waters edge. I took photos of both locations (see below). Sacramento River at Anderson River Park video.

Road Map, Satellite Map, Terrain Map & Topographic Map.

• Use the interactive map - click and drag to reposition the map. Map user FAQ.
• Point at the red markers to see their labels. Use the tool on the left to zoom and pan.
• Map=roads. Satellite=satellite map. Terrain=3D shaded topo. Topo=topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - Sacramento River - Anderson to Balls Ferry Run.

coordinates - landmarks (red marker on map)
N 40.47096 W 122.29447 - North St bridge alternate put-in
N 40.46757 W 122.27967 - Anderson CA, public fishing access put-in (A)
N 40.46329 W 122.24406 - Deschutes Rd. bridge (B)
N 40.41750 W 122.19297 - Balls Ferry CA, Ash Ck Rd bridge take-out (C)
N 40.23132 W 122.18136 - Sacramento River gauge above Bend Bridge near Red Bluff CA (D)
N 40.19623 W 122.22625 - Ide Adobe State Park alternate take-out for 2-day trip.
N 40.15608 W 122.20618 - Sacramento River Discovery Center alt take-out for 2-day trip.

This was our first trip on "big water". We didn't get started until 11:00am. The weather was nice, not too hot or cold and no wind. We found unsettled water pretty quickly. I am not sure what happened or why but I found myself unexpectedly rolling to the right dumping me into the 54 degree water. This was my first wet exit. I righted my kayak to keep my gear in it as I watched my paddle float away. Floating along at 4-5 mph I tried to push my kayak to the right hand bank. I got close enough to touch the bottom but I couldn't do anything to slow my progress down river. I just couldn't seem to get any closer to the bank so I decided to swim to the other side. I started to feel as though I was getting chilled and thought that I really ought to get the heck out of the water. As I got closer to the far side, the current eased and I was able to reach shore. I dumped the water out of my kayak and took a look at my gear. I was lucky, I had only lost a couple bottles of water, and of course my paddle. I was very glad I wasn't wearing blue jeans or other cotton clothes. My wife had put ashore and walked towards me. I told her I had lost my paddle and, what luck, she said she could see it. The paddle had come to rest nearby and she was able to walk over to it. I can't imagine trying to continue without a paddle. I also can't imagine what we would have done if we couldn't continue.

We regrouped and continued down river. We soon came upon another rough spot and Sharon ended up stuck on rocks. I had found a decent path and she soon disappeared behind me. I pulled over to the bank as soon as I could. After waiting for a while I got out and started walking upstream to see if I could help. I didn't get very far before I ran into a wall of bushes and blackberry vines and private property. As I was headed back to the shore to see if I could walk along the water's edge I saw Sharon floating down river. Everything was OK. We regrouped again just above the Deschutes Rd. bridge. We talked about pulling out right there. We decided to continue and it was not long before we came upon another rough spot. We got out at tried to walk around it some. I got back in and hit some of the roughest water for the day. I had water splashing over my bow and into the cockpit. Sharon had tried to walk her kayak a little farther so I again had to pull over and wait for her to catch up. At this point I was pretty sure we were in over our heads almost literally. There was nothing we could do but try to keep our heads above water. A little further down we stayed right at an island and had some more rough water. Thankfully after that we had a stretch of calmer water. As we got close to Balls Ferry and the A17 bridge, we knew we should pull out there. We didn't have a vehicle there, but we figured it was safer to find a ride. than to stay on the river. We were very lucky that a drift fishing guide that had put in at the same time we did, was pulling out as we got to the boat ramp. He offered to give me a ride back to the Anderson Public Fishing Access ramp to get our car. After we loaded up the kayaks I took a couple photos of the rapids just down river. I read that this part of the river was not very exciting. Maybe we are just newbies, or maybe the river has changed since the trip report we read was written. There was plenty of excitement for us. We have decided that this kind of trip is not for us. If the river gets rough, there is no way to skip that part. If someone gets into trouble, we can't go back up river to help them. We had quite an adventure that day. For now, we will stick to creeks and still water.

• Sacramento River access point at Anderson River Park.
• More photos: Sacramento River kayak trip pictures by traildad450

We had hoped to kayak down to Red Bluff. We checked out two pull out locations, Ide Adobe State Park and the Sacramento River Discovery Center. We were looking for a place to leave our vehicle overnight. The ranger at Ide Adobe said we could leave our vehicle but there would be a $6 charge to park each day. The river access was usable but not easy. We checked at the Sacramento River Discovery Center and the ranger said we could leave our vehicle in the day use parking lot for no charge. The river access was fairly flat and not too long of a walk. It also looked like it would be easy to go ashore from the kayak. There is also a campground with showers. There is river access both above and below the diversion dam.

More about:
• Sacramento River Paddle Boating Guide & Map.
• Whitewater Kayaking Trip Reports in California - BRT Insights.
• California Whitewater Rivers - Comprehensive Guide for Paddleboating Class II to IV.

IceRocket Tags: kayaking, paddlesports.
Tags: kayaking, river, whitewater, paddle boating, Sacramento River, California.

Labels: trip

At the end of a long dry season Sacramento Bypass Wildlife Area (Yolo County, California, USA) was very dry & brown except for a few low spots that had a little murky water supporting some green plants. Bounded by levee roads Co Rd 126 on the north and Co Rd 127 on the south, this area is not very interesting for hiking or biking at this time of year. During the rainy season in winter & spring this area probably has some wildflowers and migratory birds.

Road Map, Satellite Map, Terrain Map & Topographic Map.

• Use the interactive map - click and drag to reposition the map. Map user FAQ.
• Point at the red markers to see their labels. Use the tool on the left to zoom and pan.
• Map=roads. Satellite=satellite map. Terrain=3D shaded topo. Topo=topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - Sacramento Bypass Wildlife Area.

coordinates - landmark (red marker on map).
N 38.60171 W 121.57316 - Sacramento Bypass (A).
N 38.60574 W 121.55720 - Sacramento Weir (B).
N 38.59326 W 121.61333 - Yolo Bypass (C).
N 38.58865 W 121.50503 - Sacramento River flow gauge at I Street Bridge (D).

Sacramento Weir

Sacramento Weir comprises the entire eastern edge of the Sacramento Bypass. Old River Road runs directly on top of the weir, leaving a gap underneath where the water can flow below the roadway. When the Sacramento River is in flood stage water flows over the weir through the Sacramento Bypass and on to the Yolo Bypass, hopefully reducing the likelihood of catastrophic flooding in Sacramento. "Under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rules, the weir is opened after the Sacramento River hits the 27.5 foot stage at Sacramento's I Street Bridge with a forecast to continue rising." (DWR To Open Sacramento Weir - Free Online Library) On this calm, sunny day in October the Sacramento River was flowing at 3.3 feet (Sacramento River flow gauge at I Street Bridge - CA Dept Water Resources) with a water flow forecast for only minor fluctuations in the coming days (Sacramento River at I Street Bridge flow forecast - National Weather Service)

• Sacramento River on the left with Sacramento Weir on the right.
• More photos: 2010-09-10 Sacramento Bypass Wildlife Area.

Photographed from the Sacramento River side, it was pretty amazing how far below the weir the river was flowing. It was hard to imagine the river rising more than 20 feet higher and flowing over the Sacramento Weir during the rainy season. The Sacramento River doesn't reach these high flow rates in many years, but whenever it happens next I'll be going back there and getting some more pictures!!

For more information:
• Yolo Bypass - Sacramento River Portal and Library.
• California Hiking Trails - Statewide Information.
• Biking, Hiking & Camping Trip Reports - BRT Insights.

Tags: Sacramento Weir, Sacramento Bypass, Sacramento Bypass Wildlife Area, Yolo Bypass.
Tags: Sacramento Valley, Sacramento River, Yolo County, California.

Labels: hiking