This web page is a collection of resources about the Chetco River.
The Chetco River is between my two of my favorites rivers in the world: the North Fork of the Smith and the Illinois River. The Biscuit Fire in 2002 dropped trees across the access trails and very few parties have been down the Chetco since.
Upper Chetco
Take-Out: Tollman Ranch (380 feet)
Length: 18 or 24 miles with a 3.79 mile hike in (one mile of this hike is jackstrawed logs)
Gradient: 85 feet/mile until Taggarts Bar, then 42 feet/mile to Tolman Ranch
Back to back rapids in the Upper Gorge of the Chetco River
A short video from our trip.
Upper, Upper Chetco (Magic Canyon)
Take-Out: Slide Creek, you’ll definitely want to continue down
Length: 3 miles and a 9 mile hike in
Gradient: about 90 feet/mile
Most groups that run the Chetco do it in the summer months at low flow with inflatable kayaks. Here’s a good video from Allen Wilson’s last trip before the Biscuit Fire.
and a more recent (2012) Oregon Field Guide about the Chetco with some video from our trip.
More Chetco River resources:
- Trip Report from our June 2011 Chetco trip
- Report from Bill Tuthill and Brian Vogt’s trip in 2012
- USFS Chetco has great information and some photos.
- Save Our Chetco Blog chronicles some of the threats to the Chetco River.
- Kalmiopsis Audubon
- Siskiyou Mountain Club Trans-Kalmiopsis Route
Chetco River Flow from USGS
