Boulder, Montana, US

4. Boulder Falls to highway (Boulder Falls Canyon)

Usual Difficulty	V+ (for normal flows)
Length	1 Miles

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level
Boulder River at Big Timber MT
usgs-06200000	4.20 - 6.50 ft	V+	22h26m	2.08 ft (rc= -0.9 )

River Description

Boulder Falls Canyon is a sight no one should miss and is a hell of an exciting run to boot. The Boulder river charges down a great looking class V-V+ drop before plumetting into an enormous hole that happens to drain most of the river through the now collapsed "Natural Bridge". The entire river goes through this hole at lower flows and comes shooting out of the cliffs below into the Boulder Falls Canyon. Needless to say, don't run the section above the falls... At medium and high flows, the river actually reaches the lip of the 105' falls creating an incredible scene to behold. I finally hiked down in there last year with some friends and really enjoyed the stretch of whitewater that runs below the falls through a striking limestone canyon. There are a few major sieves in the canyon that you should be wary of, for there is no return from getting sucked in. They are enormous. Fortunately, you can put in at the base of the falls, paddle to just above the first rapid and scout the entire canyon on river right. It felt like V+ or 5.1 at 3500 cfs on the downstream gauge. Definitely manageable, but with very little room for error in a couple places, and a fairly large pucker factor involved throughout. If you're up for it, try it out. It is a fantastic view from river level and a Sunday afternoon you won't soon forget.