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River-Running Utah's Westwater Canyon

It's Always Runnin'!

story and photos by Dunbar Hardy

Getting Started

Where: The Colorado River of Westwater Canyon near the Colorado/Utah Stateline. Best access is off of I-70 — Westwater exit for the put-in and Cisco for the takeout.

What: Westwater Canyon is a 17-mile class III-IV trip. It is usually done in 1-2 days. It is suitable for skilled rafts, intermediate/advanced kayakers, and expert canoeists.

When: Westwater is flowing year-round, with the main time for paddling anytime from April to October. Off-season trips can be cold and shady but still boatable.

Flow: The Colorado typically peaks each year in the mid-May/early June timeframe. During the peak the river can easily get over 20,000 cfs, with an off-season flow of around 3,000 cfs. Challenging medium levels are 7,000-10,000 cfs. Go to http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt for more information on levels.

Permit: A permit is required from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Grand Resource Area. They may be contacted at their Moab office at (435) 259-7012.

Info: The following guidebooks can be used for information on Westwater Canyon: Canyonlands River Guide by Lee Belknap and Colorado Rivers and Creeks by Banks and Eckardt.

It's always runnin'" is what's best about Westwater. It's like an old, reliable friend for many Southwest whitewater paddlers. Straddling the Colorado/Utah border, the Colorado River bends from its roadside access and drops through a remote and dramatic sandstone and black-rock canyon. This 17-mile run can be tackled as a zippy one-day trip or more leisurely as a two-day trip. Most folks opt for a two-day trip and camp around the Little Dolores River. For the super slackers, a layover day for hiking can easily turn the Westwater into a three-day trip. Regardless of the length of trip, the scenery and whitewater of this classic Southwest run will leave a pleasant impression. Pack a sunhat and sunscreen - Westwater can cook on sunny days.
From start to finish, the scenery of a Westwater Canyon trip varies. The put-in point is located in rangeland, wide-open without a canyon in sight. The first few miles of placid water allows folks time to adjust gear and rigging, and also to find their groove before the real action kicks in.
Westwater Canyon's rapids are to be respected. Near mile seven, the geology changes from open rangeland and an occasional sandstone cliff to a true walled-in V-shaped gorge, known as the "inner gorge." The whitewater picks up just before entering the inner gorge at Little Dolores Rapid. This is a playspot for a challenging but rewarding surf wave.
The walls of the inner gorge are polished stone, known as black schist - an ancient layer of rock also seen deep in the Grand Canyon. For nearly four miles these massive, towering walls channel the river through a narrow rock-filled chasm which is littered with challenging rapids; the majority of which fall into the class III-III+ realm.
The real crux of the run, and the notorious rapid, is Skull Rapid (class III-IV) at mile 10. It is a respectable hole not to be reckoned with and narrowly avoided on the left, which can wash discombobulated paddlers into the nasty Room of Doom - an inescapable swirling eddy just downstream on river-right. It ain't over yet, as more rapids lie just below, such as Sock-it-to-me Rapid (class III+, you will get your face wet on this one) and Last Chance (class III+, one last hurrah and ender spot). Depending on one's taste for whitewater, paddlers will either wallow in the frequency of rapids or be gasping for a break. The numerous rapids may create too much busyness for paddlers to notice all the amazing scenery, but in exchange paddlers are gripped by commitment and claustrophobia - an adventure - while dwarfed by the sandstone cliffs. Floating out of the inner gorge, the river calms back down and lazes through more open rangeland for the final six miles to the takeout.
Spring, summer, and fall, Westwater Canyon on the Colorado River is always runnable. When all else dries ups, or is yet to flow, the put-in can be quite a mob scene of paddlers. While Westwater Canyon is always reliable for water, just how much of it is the question. Westwater is a different beast at different water levels - a washed-out swirling torrent at the highest levels to a technical not-so-easy run at lower levels. Its long season sees chilly out-of-shape paddlers in early spring and all manner of paddlers through the summer-cookouts into fall. Regardless of time of year and weather, the Colorado River is always runnable through Westwater Canyon . . . and Skull Rapid is just as reliable, always waiting.

Dunbar Hardy is a freelance photographer/writer based out of Durango, Colorado. His work covers everything from river trips to weddings. To see more of his work, go to dunbarhardy.com.