Duwamish, Washington, US

King County Park behind Boeing

Duwamish

Duwamish

Gauge Information

River Description

ACCESS: There is a King County Park (really just some parking and restrooms) off Highway 99 behind the post office sorting center on river left. A waterway trail foot bridge spans the river at the end of 27th Ave. S and the rapid is beneath this bridge. The access is not great but you can cross the bridge and launch from river right. There is also some parking on the river right side at the end of South 112th St.

DESCRIPTION: The scenery can best be described as industrial and much cleaner rivers can be found just a few short miles to the east, but if you're looking for a bit of current and a class II rapid with decent eddylines close to home or work, the lower Duwamish River has one spot where bedrock extends into the channel creating a short rapid. There are additional points upstream and downstream where you can launch to add a flatwater workout to your session.

With flows from the White River and the Cedar River now diverted from this watershed, a large dam on the Green River, and extensive bank hardening, the Dumawish is barely recognizeable as the living river it once was. Despite this, salmon make their annual return to the river which is currently the site of a massive river clean-up and restoration project (read more at the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition website).