Pit, California, US

(2) Fall River Mills to Pit River Campground (Pit Falls)

Usual Difficulty	III-IV (for normal flows)
Length	7.1 Miles

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
Pit River above Pit 1 PH
pge-PH71A	600 - 5000 cfs	III-IV	03h58m	~ 400 cfs (rc= -0.0 )

River Description

This river section has cut a deep canyon through a volcanic plateau.  The Pit River meanders through pastoral countryside on top of the Modoc Plateau.  At Fall River Mills, the Pit is joined by Fall River and then starts cutting a canyon.  Over 7 miles the river cuts to the bottom of the plateau and exits onto another lower basin.  The Pit is unique to California in that the terrain is more like eastern Oregon desert with a basalt riverbed. 

The Pit 1 bypass reach is a great class IV+ run that has summer weekend releases, thanks to American Whitewater.  Flows are normally diverted around this section for hydropower but during scheduled weekends through the summer, flows are restored to the river providing a great recreational resource for the community (check the weekend forecast at the link above for projected flows).

If you put in at the PG&E river access facility Fall River Mills you will have 1.8 miles of flatwater down to where the whitewater begins. This section provides a very nice flatwater paddling opportunity full of wildlife and great scenery. If you wish to avoid the flatwater you can put-in at Big Eddy Estates. The road to this put-in crosses a private easement, if you choose to put-in at this location please tell your friends to be on their best behavior.  Access at Big Eddy Estates could change in the future. 

Whitewater Overview:
The flat water section ends abruptly at the Big Eddy Estates put in.  A wide volcanic band blocks the river and is covered with bushes and trees.  A series of narrow channels flow downhill through the trees on far river right.  The next 3 rapids are the steepest of the whole run, excluding Pit Falls.  These rapids should be scouted as they have tricky moves that can't be seen from above.   At flows of 800 and 1100 cfs there were plenty of eddies.  After the Big 3, the gradient eases and rapids open up enough for boat scouting everything else, exluding Pit Falls. 

When the river begins to widen and approach a large right hand bend, exit the river on the right.   At moderate flows walk in the shallows to a portage at the right edge of the falls.  You can also climb a short steep bank to an old roadbed to get great views of the falls.  You can continue walking along the roadbed to the old steel bridge.  There is also a fairly easy portage on river left, between a "fish ladder" channel and the main falls.  The Falls tend to be run at 3 locations: a slide on the right, the "Fish Ladder" on the left. and at some flows down high narrow chute left of center. 

Past Pit Falls enjoy a series of easy drops called "the lefts" all on left hand bends with the normal routes to the left as well.   Below this is the Longest Rapid of the Run.  Although not as steep as the Big 3, it is steep enough and extends for 4/10s of a mile.  Easier yet very busy rapids continue past the end of the canyon and to the take out. 

Take out: 
Continue east on 299E to the turn off for the Pit #1 powerhouse.   Turn right here if you wish to take out at the campground.   Boaters can also continue down into the class 2 section from 

Put in:
From the campground drive 1.4 miles to 299, turn right and climb the grade toward Fall River Mills.  There is a designated scenic overlook parking area with a good view of the falls, but there are also a series of turnouts before the overlook that provide views of the lower rapids.  Hang a right in the middle of Fall River Mills (This is a small community and finding the river is easy). Follow the road across the bridge and you've found the put-in.  PG&E has constructed a new river access as a condition of the new hydropower license.

The put-in used by whitewater boaters is at "Big Eddy Estates" further down the road.   From the bridge over the Pit River, drive 2.3 miles to Shoshoni Loop Rd.  A very large "Big Eddy Estates" sign marks the turn.  Drive .9 miles to Natchez Ct. and turn right.   Park in the cul de sac.  Carry your equipment 3/10s of a mile down a gravel road to the river.  It is an easy walk, even with rafts.  This put in crosses private property and remains available at the disgression of the owner.  During release weekends, PG&E has hired a local resident to stay here, count boaters and give directions.  They have been very helpful. 

Camping:
Pit River Campground has regular 8 sites and one group site.  Each site has a concrete picnic table and a fire ring. Regular sites are $8 per site per night. The campground host is very helpful. There are 2 pit toilets. There is no water supplied at the campground, so bring plenty. There is a clear spring a few hundred yards downstream at a Lions Club picnic area.

Three Leaf Sumac (Rhus trilobata) grows thick around the campsites. It has edible berries and the stems are often used for basket making. It looks similar to Poison Oak as they are both in the sumac family. Some Poison-oak also grow in the area so try to see the difference.

Supplies:
There is no shortage of gas stations, groceries, restaurants and such in the area. Fall River Mills has a gas station, large grocery store, several resteraunts, single screen movie theater, auto parts store and other amenities. Nearby Burney has several reasonably priced gas stations, a Safeway market, auto repair shops, etc..

Other Information Sources: 
A Wet State
Jefferson State Creeking
CaCreeks.com
Pit River Alliance
BLM Pit River Campg Recreation Area  
AW-PG&E flow page
1-866-629-3925 AW-PG&E Flow Phone

Trip Reports:  
PITFALLS ON THE PIT

Neal Nikirk

Actually it is Pit Falls on the Pit #1 Bypass Reach of the Pit River, east of Burney, California (north of Lassen National Park). This is a rare opportunity for you to push your boat (minus you, preferably) over a 20 foot waterfall, collect it at the bottom, and lower it another 10 feet over the second part of the drop. More on this later…

The Pit#1 Bypass Reach is normally dewatered by PG&E operations, but due to the efforts of American Whitewater (AW), water is restored to this reach 3 (THREE) weekends each year in June, July, and August. We decided to sample this reported Class IV- run with one portage at Pit Falls. We, being Lacey and I in our small cats and our friend John form Ashland in his slightly larger cat. We met up at the BLM Pit River campground, which also serves as the take-out for this run and the put-in for a short Class II stretch downstream.

Luckily for us, Dave Steindorf of AW was camped there as well and intended to run his raft down on Saturday. Since he is a veteran of this run in both rafts and kayaks, we were fortunate to have him lead us down this stretch for our first time. One access point currently is at the bridge just south of Fall River Mills and involves a portageable weir and 3 miles of flatwater. We put in at the Big Eddy Estates, avoiding the flatwater ahead of the good stuff. All of us were on our best behavior as this put-in is on a private easement. There was a sign there indicating that for 2010 this arrangement could change. AW has been working with PG&E to provide an alternate access point, but to date, there is none.

The whole run is relatively unique in that the rapids are formed where volcanic ledges have been cut by the river. Also, having only minimal flows most of the year allows lots of vegetation to grow in the channel. The upper two miles or so (above Pit Falls) is very interesting Class III+ to IV whitewater, weaving through a variety of reed-lined channels and over sharp (literally) ledges. It was great having Dave in the lead as he seemed to know which channels were clear, something that was NOT obvious from the river. Some of the other choices ended in steep boulder-choked drops that would have been nearly impassable or had trees across them. Not a place you wanted to end up accidentally.

Pit Falls is magnificent. A river wide volcanic ledge where the river has cut many channels over this 30 foot drop. Choose the wrong one and you’re toast. We opted to portage along the right, pushing the boats over a 20 foot slide into a shallow pool at the bottom. Sounds easy, right? WRONG. Getting the boats to the slide involves sliding them over and through the reeds along the bank. In several places there are DEEP channels that have been cut and lead to nasty places on the falls. We used the boats to “ladder” across a particularly bad channel just to reach the point where we could shove the boats out into the current for the slide. A mis-step here and you would go down the WRONG side of the slide and be seriously injured or killed. We managed to get the raft and one cat down the right side of the slide, while the other two cats decided (on their own) to run the wrong side. As is often the case, the empty boats made it fine. If people had been on them, the outcome could have been disasterous. Yes, the slide has been run by kayakers and paddle boats, but the prudent thing to do is portage. We then lowered the boats over the last 10 foot ledge to the main river below. Expert kayakers are routinely running the 20 foot slide on river right and a harder 30 foot plunge to the left.

Below the falls, are a few more miles of good Class III-III+ whitewater with multiple drops on left-hand bends, where the run is usually to the left as well. Except now there is a tree across the left channel in one of them…Take out at the BLM park below the Pit #1 Powerhouse channel. It is best to use the far right channel at the last drop to drop into the eddy. Too far left and you may get swept downstream into the Class II section for another hours river time. The class II section retains some of the “flavor” of the upper section in a user friendly environment. It is much more pool and drop with lots of flatwater. A few channels to choose from and an easy take-out at the Highway 299 bridge.

Overall, this run is very fun, with the portage at the falls being a bit sketchy. It is probably better suited to skilled kayakers than rafters. Dave and his raft got stuck quite a few times, but the cats had better runs as they were much lighter and more maneuverable. Our small, narrow cats were an advantage as there are several “chutes” to negotiate where wider boats have more difficulty. John’s wider cat perched on several rocks that we were able to slip between with our narrower boats. This is definitely a Class IV- run; fun and technically challenging. If you are not ready for the Chamberlain Falls run on the NF American or the Lumsden run on the Tuolumne, then you may not be ready for this one. The Falls are a thrill to be sure and beautiful to view.

Keep posted on what is happening on the Pit and when the releases will occur in 2010 by checking in on the American Whitewater website. This is a great organization and the main reason why we now have recreational releases on the Pit, NF Feather, NF Mokelumne, etc. Become a member and support a worthwhile cause!

Neal, 2009

 

FERC information:
Pit #1 project is FERC Project # 2687, and received a new license in 2003.  Use the FERC search page to find documents related to this project.  Enter P-2687 as the document number.

USFWS request to cancel flushing flows. pdf
AW response, defending flows. PDF

 

Other Rivers in the region that might have flows during release periods:
Pit River Campground to Lake Briton.  
Upper McCloud
Clear Creek
Trinity

Other Points of Interest in the Area:
MacArther-Burney Falls State Park
Lassen National Park