Arizona's Salt River
River of Extremes
April/May by Tyler Williams
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Getting Started |
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When to go The best chance to catch the Salt with boatable flows is from February through May. March is historically the most consistent month for good water. Recent years have seen runnable levels in August and September. Optimal Levels: 1,000 - 3,000 cfs. About 700 cfs is a minimum for rafts. Inflatable kayaks have run the river below 200 cfs. Permits A $15 daily permit is required from the Apache tribe. These can be purchased from the ski shop adjacent to the Hon Dah Casino on Highway 260 near Pinetop, or at the Carrizo Junction store on Hwy 60, about 20 miles north of the river. From March 1 to May 15, a forest service permit is required to run the multi-day wilderness section. more beta Tonto National Forest: fs.fed.us/rs/tonto Resources Paddling Arizona - A Guide to Lakes, Rivers, and Creeks |
It begins as a placid stream RUNNING THE RIVER Tyler Williams is the author of Canyoneering Arizona, Grand Canyon River Hikes, Whitewater Classics and Paddling Arizona, published through Funhog Press, Williams' publishing
in spruce forests at 11,000 feet, flows through the Sonoran desert, and is ultimately swallowed by Phoenix, Ariz., a thirsty metropolis of blistering concrete. Most of the time, the Salt is but a small river, just big enough to float, just small enough to wade. Sometimes, it barely flows enough to connect almost stagnant pools. Other times, it rages at 70,000 cubic feet per second, floating mature cottonwood trees on its back like tiny matchsticks.
The Hohokam culture farmed and thrived with Salt River water centuries ago. Settlers dammed the Salt into a series of reservoirs in the early 1900s, and this infrastructure, known as the Salt River Project, spurred the growth of Phoenix, now America's fifth largest city. Today, Phoenix gets much of its water from the bigger Colorado River, but the Salt is still an important contributor. In the city, the river is reduced to a dusty expanse of cobbles, with all the water having been funneled into cement canals on the outskirts of town. Seventy miles upstream, the scene is dramatically different.
The heart of the Salt flows through the Apache Reservation where a fee is charged ($15/day) to run the river, and permits are checked by Apache rangers.
The standard river-runner's put-in is located a few hundred yards from the Highway 60 bridge, between Globe and Show Low, Ariz. The action starts immediately with a short, steep drop before a long straightaway leads to Tailings Rapid, where old mine tailings are visible on the mountainside above. Next is Bump & Grind - an aptly named shallow gravel bar. A narrow rapid just below here is called Maytag. Fortunately, the ominous title doesn't refer to a recirculating hole, just a swirl of currents that tend to spin rafts in circles. Grumman Rapid follows, where some sizeable holes do lurk, and subsequently, some of the Salt's best campfire stories are made. A couple more rapids down, Eagles Nest offers a playhole that can serve up a good ride, or a good smackdown, depending on your perspective.
The next few miles of river are splashy class I and II. Just past 2nd Campground, where many Salt boaters camp, the river bends right into Exhibition Rapid, and the biggest waves on the run. A few easy ledge rapids lead to Cibecue Rapid and Cibecue Creek, a popular take-out.
For those who continue downstream, a steep gravel bar called Three-way keeps the action going, then the river turns right into Salt River Draw Rapid and Mescal, a simple drop with a big juicy hole. Just below Mescal is the last good place to take out, because from here the road climbs away from the river.
If you've been lucky enough to draw a permit from the Tonto National Forest, another 44 miles of wild desert river awaits downstream. A multi-day on the Salt is a classic southwestern river trip. Great scenery, good hiking, fun rapids, and the surreal juxtaposition of saguaro cactus next to a burgeoning river makes this a must-do for dedicated river runners.
A few miles below the take-out of the day section, the river enters beautiful white granite where the terrain narrows into a low canyon above the confluence with Canyon Creek. Soon, the terrain opens at Gleason Flat, where there is a road on both sides of the river. Technically, you can run the river to Gleason without a wilderness permit, but long rough shuttle roads make it impractical. The roads do offer access in a pinch, however.
Below Gleason, the Salt River Canyon Wilderness officially begins on river left, while river right remains the White Mountain Apache Reservation until Lower Corral Canyon several miles farther downstream. The whitewater picks up and the canyon narrows again below Lower Corral Canyon. The scenery gets more dramatic as the river enters Jump Off Canyon, where fins of Quartzite knife into the river. One of the rock razorbacks forms Quartzite Falls, the Salt's most storied drop.
Quartzite Falls was once a formidable rapid containing a very sticky hole, and most trips portaged. In 1993, a misguided engineer who moonlighted as a weekend raft guide hiked in and blew up the hole-forming ledge. The once magnificent and powerful rapid is now emasculated to a shadow of its former self. On the brighter side, it is still a class IV drop, and the jackass who blew it up did indeed do some time in the big house.
Just below Quartzite, Corkscrew Rapid is the last major obstacle in Jump Off Canyon. The river remains swift with an occasional rapid down to Cherry Creek, then you are officially on the float out.
The final 16 miles contain nice scenery, some great beaches, and wildlife. I watched a mountain lion here, a special treat on any river much less one that runs through saguaro country.
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