Gunnison River Canyon
Put In: Cooper's Ranch Takeout: Wilsons Landing OR Lake City Bridge Length: ~3 miles Flow: min: ~300 cfs max: n/a Rating: II |
A short run west of Gunnison that only runs in certain years, depending on the current water level in Blue Mesa Reservoir, this is a fun stretch to do once in a while simply because it is different fare from the usual local runs. Despite there being a federal highway running through the canyon, it is still a beautiful high desert canyon. There is little whitewater on this float, and it doesn't take more than an hour or so to cruise through. It's best done as an extension of a longer trip, either by putting on at McCabe's Lane or Cooper's Ranch, and thanks to a couple of takeout options, you can exit wherever the river ends and the lake begins.
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The run starts at the obvious narrowing of the canyon between the two Curecanti NRA sites of Cooper's Ranch and Beaver Creek. Just downstream of Beaver Creek (where is limited access) there is a small class II riffle, and the river splits into two channels. Below this the river wraps around a lazy corner and there is a quality access (no concrete but wide and flat) called "Wilson's Landing". I have no idea who Wilson is/was or why his landing was here, but Curecanti went with it so there it is. The river then wraps around a couple more corners, passing through a couple of small class II "rapids", before flowing under the Lake City Bridge and entering Iola Basin.
This can be done at almost any flow level in the river, although below about 400 rafts will start to have trouble with getting stuck. But basically the biggest obstacle is the lake level. To explore the full amount of this run you need a couple of dry winters back to back, or at least one really dry winter where they draw the lake down big time, and then don't have enough summer floods to fill it back up. In my lifetime of living in Gunnison I've seen the full canyon exposed maybe half a dozen times. It's common for it to be river all the way to Wilson's landing. It wont be available to run every year, and even when it is runnable it's not anything more than just a quick jaunt through the shallow canyon. But, for those looking for a little bit different scenery and more variety than the standard Gunny Valley runs, if this is open and flowing, consider taking the extra hour and doing it. You wont regret it!
All photos copyright Kit Davidson.