Lake Fork Source
The very highest part of the Lake Fork's main stem originates in the high mountain pocket known as American Basin. Located at almost 12,000 feet, the beautiful, wild-flower filled basin is where the waters draining the high peaks around it coalesce and turn into the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Although the creek falls into a small gorge shortly below this, the river is not runnable due to too many rocks and lots of avalanche debris. In fact, the only place where the river is runnable in the stretch from it's headwaters to the start of the Cinnamon Gorge is a short gorge just above the ghost town of "Burrows Park". Basically consisting of two small waterfalls and a lot of willow-infested flats, the boating is sub-par at best and will likely only appeal to the most diehard of boaters.
"Cinnamon Gorge"
Hiding one of the tallest free-fall waterfalls in the state and possessing some scary drops above and below it, the Cinnamon Gorge is a rarely-run crack in the Earth that all but the most crazy of boaters will walk away from. This stretch, though scarcely 5 miles long, is one of the most full-on pieces of boating in the state. It starts at the ghost town of Burrows Park, and slowly drops into an every deepening and ever narrowing gorge. The rapids get steeper and more complex as you drop, often holding lots of wood and old mining debris, as well as numerous overly-chunky rock piles.
The crux of the entire run comes at the bottom, where the river drops through an amazingly narrow slot between the two mountains. The big falls is close to 60' in height, and contrary to common thought, is actually a man-made dam that was erected sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century for the local mining boom. The pool at the base of the falls is reported to be a dangerous recirculating cauldron, and it has claimed at least one life in the past decade, and the aeration at the bottom isn't what one would expect, so expect a very strong and very powerful hit if you choose to run it.
Immediately below this drop are two scary must-run rapids, full of nasty hydraulics in between vertical canyon walls. The first one is more difficult, but the second one is longer. Below this, the gradient immediately peels away and just like that you are done and out.
Don't attempt this section unless you are fully on your game. An expert level kayaker was killed here in 2009, and to date the number of descents on this falls can be counted on two hands.
Don't attempt this section unless you are fully on your game. An expert level kayaker was killed here in 2009, and to date the number of descents on this falls can be counted on two hands.
Cottonwood Creek
A generic and mis-leading name for a beautiful mountain stream. I don't know why they called it this, considering there are no cottonwood trees anywhere in sight, but the bland name belies the fact that this creek holds a short, scary, and steep chunk of class V/V+ bedrock boating. There are two gorges on Cottonwood Creek, although the term "boxes" might be more appropriate.
The first box begins with a bang, starting with a chunky 8' falls, some manky BS, and then an awkward 12' falls that