Saint Vrain, South Fork - SSV - Confluence to Picnic Grounds

Where the upper and middle forks of the South fork of the Saint Vrain meet on CO Highway 7 east of Lyons, CO is a pull off that can be used to put in for the SSV.

About 5 miles below the putin is another pull off/picnic area you can use as the take out for SSV.  This is also where Central Gulch joins the Saint Vrain Creek.

This is a long stair stepping rapid just below the confluence of the middle and south branches that gets the blood flowing quickly.  Scout the line carefully to avoid the mank, but it usually goes better than it looks, much like all the drops on SSV.

Just below the confluence rapid comes a fun slide.  Just point your boat straight and try to exit on the right side.

After a long stretch of boogie water from the confluence put-in, there is a large slow moving pool.  This is also the put-in for the shorter, classic SSV put-in.  This rapid starts below the pool.  Navigate a couple small entrance holes, dodge the mank, and set yourself up to drive center and right for the last flume.  This rapid usually goes smoothly but carnage can be epic.  See the accident report for how this rapid got its name.

This rapid is a straightforward double drop with a nice ledge boof on top into a large eddy.  The second tier requires a left to right move to avoid the mank at the bottom.

The rapid's name is derived from a sign post that used to be present in the rapid.  The rapid starts on river right and feeds into a 4 foot ledge against a river right cliff wall.  The river makes a dramatic turn to the left, which often spins unsuspecting boaters backwards and into a small but sticky ledge hole on river left.  Be heads up because this rapid feeds directly into the next.

Scout this rapid carefully before committing.  The standard line is to catch a small bleeding eddy on river left just above the crux and ferry above a deadly looking pile of pin rocks to the river right eddy, which provides a safe passage below.  Many people choose to walk this rapid.

This rapid's namesake is derived from the promiment overhanging boulder on the right shore midway through the rapid.  Navigate the mank pile up top and catch the river right eddy above the squeeze between two b oulders.  At lower flows, thread your way another 10 yards downstream and catch the eddy on river left.  This eddy provides a perfect setup to squeeze between a rooster tail and the overhanging rock.  Hit the slide below it with left to right momentum in order to avoid a piton at the bottom.  A few more manky ledges below will deliver you to more manky boogie water.

Many consider this one of the most fun rapids on the river.  Punch a hole down the middle, then stay straight through a hole with a diagonal wave reflecting off the right wall.  There's a decent sized eddy on river right after the second hole to set up for the final drop.  The final drop requires slaloming through some mank on the left side and then driving toward the center for broken ledge drop that terminates in a small, but sticky hole.

This is one of the most consequential rapids on the run.  The entrance is a steep ramp into a hole followed by a constriction with a rock in the center that forces the boater to chose the left or right side.  Left is usually preferred if you can make it, as it avoids the danger of having your paddle chalk against the cliff wall.

After the narrows entrance, a steep section of jumbled roadside rock blast awaits.  If you are not upright and in control at this point, bad things await.  Like much of the run, this section tends to go better than it looks, but a random piton is not out of the ordinary here.

After the ugliest and steepest part of the Narrows comes this nice double drop.  The first drop offers one of the best boofs on the run.  Hit the hump on the side and punch through the second hole.

The flow constrictions against the right cliff wall and drops over a 5-6 foot ledge. Crank a glorious boof over this ledge, stay right (unless you're racing) and boof the left edge of the clamshell hump at the next horizon line to avoid a rock in the landing zone.

The last rapid is ugly and rarely sees a clean run, although it is possible.  Fortunately it's also generally relatively forgiving, which is to say after you piton, flip and drag yourself over the bottom boulder, you can roll up below and try to piece together what just happened to you.

The obvious last rapid on the run that can be seen from the highway.  We've done some experimentation, and the odds are actually much better than the name would suggest.