Request for Insight on the Owyhee River, Oregon

[Pseudonym]

My annual tripping group may be coalescing around the idea of a trip on the Owyhee in Oregon. We're in the preliminary stages of research and would love being pointed in the right direction. A survey of CT.net yields no trip reports and only the following relevant references, which seem to indicate access and shuttle logistics that will require careful planning.

The Green has a lot of class III rapids and the longest shuttle around except for maybe the Owyhee River in Idaho.

but I can stretch a poling adventure into about a week in some cases. The Owyhee River at Three Forks being one of those.

For instance, the road that goes to the upper Owyhee river - a popular canyon run with a very short season - can be used if you call ahead to the landowner with detailed description of your party and vehicle that will be used. Forget to ask permission or show up looking different than described.......expect to be escorted (or towed) off the property, likely with some hostility.

I understand the Owyhee flows are snowpack dependent: trips are viable March through early June, April and May being prime season. Daily temperature fluctuations are significant. We've done cold water trips before (Machias, John Day) and big volumes (John Day at 14,000 CFM+) but those elements coupled with the remoteness of the Owyhee gives me pause. A preliminary web search yields much more information on rafts and kayaks than open canoes. Watching YouTube videos leads me to believe that a spray cover could be warranted: we swamped repeatedly on the John Day. Overall, we're a solid group of paddlers.

So the question is, can we pick a feasible section of the Owyhee that would accommodate a trip of 4/5+ days without irresponsibly stretching the limits of heavily loaded canoes?

Given the challenge of managing our collective schedules, we'll certainly need to commit to a set of dates and keep our fingers crossed for appropriate flows; setting a contingency plan for another river if the weather disagrees.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

That photo looks familiar. Three Forks, right? I picked up a group there a couple summers ago.

That would be the takeout for the upper runs with very remote and inconvenient access. Putting in there takes you through a lot of class 3, some 4, and a couple of class five (one is+5) on the way to Rome. Most people who I know that have done it in canoes get in at Rome and take out at Birch Creek, just above Owyhee Reservoir. That has several cl3, and a couple cl4. A lot more camping options, I think. Still a significant shuttle, but easier since Rome is right on the highway. Birch Creek requires high clearance and sometimes 4wd.

I still haven't done any of it yet (that poling from Three Forks trip keeps getting bumped), and it's unlikely that I'll do any of the whitewater in a canoe at this point. But I would be glad to help you with the shuttle if timing doesn't conflict.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

BTW, the BLM website probably still has a link somewhere for river maps of the entire drainage above the reservoir. Let me know if you can't find it. Worst case, if it's not there anymore, I can scan my hard copy.

 

[Pseudonym]

@Steve in Idaho thank you! Very kind of you to offer shuttle support. I'd love the occasion to meet you. Given that you've picked others up on this river before, is that a service you do routinely, or are you just the nicest guy in Idaho?

That photo looks familiar. Three Forks, right?

I sourced this photo from the Momentum River Expeditions website, which seems to indicate its location on the lower Owyhee.

In line with your advice, I received a couple of very helpful direct-messages from another forum member, who also pointed me towards the lower section of the river, specifically the Rome to Leslie Gulch section. Barring headwinds, the eight miles of the reservoir might prove an enjoyable "glory lap" at the end of a trip: recounting our heroics (and idiocy) over a few, final, rationed beers!

Further research yields, an out-of-print river guide from the BLM: https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/f...Idaho_Bruneau-Jarbidge-Owyhee_BoaterGuide.pdf

And a pretty good trip summary from and organization called The Mountaineers: Owyhee River (Lower): Rome to Leslie Gulch — The Mountaineers

 

[ppine]

Steve is right. This river is one of the most remote in the lower 48. It is a very flashy watershed. Flows can come up quickly. Low flows are even worse over sharp basalt and lava rock. No place for canoes. Very hard to plan ahead because of wild fluctuations in flow. Some years it is unrunnable even for rafts and kayaks. The shuttle is over 8 hours.

 

[Mason]

I have a friend that used to solo canoe (MR Rx Explorer) part of the Owyhee on an almost annual basis (his dog is even buried there, having expired on one of the trips). I don't know the details, but it wasn't the whitewater sections, and obviously water level was critical. I've seen pix, and I always wanted to do it--just a neat looking trip in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

H

@Steve in Idaho thank you! Very kind of you to offer shuttle support. I'd love the occasion to meet you. Given that you've picked others up on this river before, is that a service you do routinely, or are you just the nicest guy in Idaho?


I sourced this photo from the Momentum River Expeditions website, which seems to indicate its location on the lower Owyhee.

In line with your advice, I received a couple of very helpful direct-messages from another forum member, who also pointed me towards the lower section of the river, specifically the Rome to Leslie Gulch section. Barring headwinds, the eight miles of the reservoir might prove an enjoyable "glory lap" at the end of a trip: recounting our heroics (and idiocy) over a few, final, rationed beers!

Further research yields, an out-of-print river guide from the BLM: https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/f...Idaho_Bruneau-Jarbidge-Owyhee_BoaterGuide.pdf

And a pretty good trip summary from and organization called The Mountaineers: Owyhee River (Lower): Rome to Leslie Gulch — The Mountaineers

Haha! Not the nicest guy in Idaho, but I live near the Owyhees and I'm not one to pass up an excuse to visit them. The group I picked up were some younger guys I used to paddle with until they got too much into whitewater for me.

Ppine is right that the river can be flashy and it can be bony - especially in its upper reaches. And oar rafts are the most popular crafts getting in at Rome from what I've seen. But some people do run it in properly outfitted whitewater oriented canoes. I have been told that some of the more difficult rapids can be sneaked at higher flows and portaged at lower flows. But yeah, it is a pretty serious trip. Photos I've seen are pretty awesome.

The shuttle for the upper runs probably is eight hours or more, which is why that group was happy I could pick them up (they retrieved their put-in vehicle all the next day later). But Driving time from Leslie Gulch to Rome is only two hours. Rome to Birch Creek might be a little shorter, but I would expect it to take about the same amount of time, due to the condition of the "road".

Short side trips on the way into Birch Creek can include Jordan Craters (some of the youngest lava beds in the continental US) and a view into Leslie Gulch from above on Mahogany Mountain - both of which are definitely worth the time.

BTW, getting out at Leslie Gulch can b a slog in anything suitable for whitewater. Most people choose to get out at Birch Creek if the road there hasn't been washed out. There is camping with vault toilet facilities at Leslie Gulch, and the Gulch is another place definitely worth visiting and hiking though - so there's that.

One could also camp just off the route between Rome and Birch Creek at Cow Lakes, at the southeast end of Jordan Craters.

My thoughts.... if you choose to go all the way to Leslie Gulch, you should set aside some time to do some day hikes there if possible. But that also applies to Birch Creek.

 

[ppine]

Leslie Gulch can be hard to get out of after a rain because of all the clay.
Bring an outboard on a raft if you take out there on Owyhee Res.
It is a trip that is expeditionary in nature but hard to plan in advance. That is why we never tried. it.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Just a little heads up....
Snowpack in the Owyhee River watershed is not looking good this winter so far.

 

[Pseudonym]

Thanks @Steve in Idaho. Fingers crossed we catch up over the balance of the winter. Do you have any advice about how I can keep an eye on the snowpack from afar?

This is one known resource:

Oregon SNOTEL Snow/Precipitation Update Report

I confess I’m not exactly sure how to interpret the data. For instance, what good does the year-to-date data precipitation do me when it includes precipitation from last winter? If the “snow-water-equivalent” is for this season only (which would stand to reason, though I can’t substantiate the date range), then that’s a useful metric. If I’m right, then the snowpack is only 16% of the median, which is TERRIBLE and correlates with your intel.

 

[tketcham]

Snowpack water equivalent is tough to predict this early in the season because a couple of good storm cycles can bring it back fast. You'll get a better idea as the season progresses. And as mentioned, this can be a flashy river system come spring runoff, whenever that happens.

You can get a feel for how well the streams are flowing from USGS monitoring sites. There are two three stream gauges on the Owyhee River that the USGS maintains. I like to view stream discharge in cubic feet per second (CFS) vs the more commonly used stream gauge height because I can visualize volume of water better than the height at an unfamiliar gauge site. And the median stream flow graph gives you an idea of how "normal" the current stream flow is.

You can access the Crutcher Crossing, ID gauge here and the Mountain City, NV gauge here

And here's the gauge at Rome, OR ...

Owyhee River NR Rome OR

Discover water data collected at monitoring location USGS-13181000, located in Oregon and find additional nearby monitoring locations.

waterdata.usgs.gov

Added: For a deep dive into stream flow records you can access Statistical tables for select daily data types (found towards the bottom of each page). The link is "View tables" "Discharge, cubic feet per second"

There are some useful average (mean) flow rates for each year to get an idea of yearly fluctuations and a table showing mean stream flow by month by year and one that even has average daily flow by month. The data can be used in a spreadsheet to generate some interesting graphs.

The tables for the Rome, OR site are found here
Statistics based on records from 1949-10-01 to 2025-12-27.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I never have figured out how to use snotel in a meaningful way. I rely heavily on these two sites...

Northwest River Forecast Center

Hydromet Pacific Northwest Region | Bureau of Reclamation

Hydromet, Pacific Northwest Region, Bureau of Reclamation - Managing water and power in the West

www.usbr.gov

For the Owyhees though, I mostly just look out to the southwest of me and listen to the locals

 

[tketcham]

The data can be used in a spreadsheet to generate some interesting graphs.

Here's a chart of annual discharge averages for the Owyhee River at Rome, OR, which shows how variable the flows are from year to year:



And here's a chart of monthly streamflow from 1950 to 2024 displaying middle 50% of discharge (2nd & 3rd quartile boxes with median and mean indicated), showing the extreme variability in flows from year to year during March to May runoff season:

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Here's a chart of annual discharge totals for the Owyhee River at Rome, OR, which shows how variable the flows are from year to year:

View attachment 152064

And here's a chart of monthly streamflow from 1950 to 2024 displaying middle 50% of discharge (2nd & 3rd quartile boxes with median and mean indicated), showing the extreme variability in flows from year to year during March to May runoff season:

View attachment 152066

Look at 1982/1983. What a winter that was! I long for another.

 

[ppine]

The perfect flashy watershed.
Lots of canyons that you cannot line and portages take half a day.

 

[Pseudonym]

And here's a chart of monthly streamflow from 1950 to 2024 displaying middle 50% of discharge (2nd & 3rd quartile boxes with median and mean indicated), showing the extreme variability in flows from year to year during March to May runoff season:

View attachment 152068

@tketcham, this is an incredibly useful chart. Do I understand correctly that you created this after exporting the USGS Statistics tables for daily mean (average) data? If so, I owe you a great debt of thanks for the effort. I really appreciate it. Thank you!

As I understand it:

• Recommended Levels for open boats: 1,000 to 6,000 cfs at the Rome, Oregon USGS gauge.
• Low Water Runs: Possible in canoes or kayaks at flows under 800 cfs: expect dragging boats over gravel bars and lining around rapids.
• Extreme low limit feasibility: 400cfs, per a direct message from a CN.net user who has done so himself along this Rome to Leslie Gulch stretch in the 1980s. He portaged his fiberglass canoe around Rock Dam Rapids but most of their party paddled the same stretch in Royalex boats.

Given @tketcham's chart above, I would surmise that a May trip is viable approximately 75% of the time. And our intended early May timeslot likely improves our chances.

Pray for snow,
Steve

 

[tketcham]

This is an incredibly useful chart. Do I understand correctly that you created this after exporting the USGS Statistics tables for daily mean (average) data?

Yup, and you're welcome. I actually find spreadsheets and charts to be fun. And let USGS know that their data is useful. This is something new that they're offering and they could use some encouragement to keep it going.

I'm not familiar with the suggested run levels you provided (never ran the Owyhee) but 6000 cfs seems high for open canoes, unless most of it gets washed out at that level. Still, I used to run the Methow River at 6000 cfs but it was pushy and wasn't as much fun as running it at lower levels.

I think a lot of us are praying for snow, even here in the northeast.

 

[Pseudonym]

Yup, and you're welcome. I actually find spreadsheets and charts to be fun.

I love it. Thanks. I'm prone to similar enthusiasms that, at least for me, often outstrip my own practical usage of the work product. But boy is that pursuit fun.

Presuming we're talking about an Excel file, would you mind sharing it? I'd like to tease into the specific lower CFM thresholds referenced above.

but 6000 cfs seems high for open canoes, unless most of it gets washed out at that level.

I didn't record an attribution for that guidance in my notes, but must have been satisfied with the source at the moment I wrote it down. I'll do a little more research and report back. I do eventually plan to post my compiled research in this thread for the benefit of the forum. This trip group ran the John Day at 14,000cfm in open canoes (thirty mile creek to Cottonwood), which may contribute to an overestimation of our own abilities. It wasn't always pretty but we managed.

I'll report back.

 

[tketcham]

Presuming we're talking about an Excel file...

I don't use cloud accounts so maybe I can send you a direct message with an attached file. I'll try it...