Butte Creek: Wilson Rd Stretch

With the water dropping out and not wanting a big mission after the Pine Creek debacle, Matt King, my dad, and I went to check out Upper Upper Butte Creek.  Scouting reports mentioned class III bedrock, which sounded just fine to me.

Low water kept Matt from putting on (he is trying to be kinder to his new boat), but my dad and I decided to find out what was in there anyway.

Turns out Upper Upper Butte creek is a nice little run.  I would say it is very similar in challenge to Upper Thomas creek with its own distinct feel.  The rapids are class III+ with a drop in the class IV range every now and then.  The first half of the run was all boulder gardens that went from III- near the beginning to IV- near the end.

 There was one ledge in there that could develop a plucky hole at higher water.  

The second half of the run begins with a turn to the right over bedrock.  The next section (1 mile?)  Is mostly various class III-IV slides that are continuous.

 This section comes to an end where there are two drops that end with large, obviously different from the rest of the run, boulders along the bank that the water moves into.  The first one may be dangerous at some levels as the water goes under it.  Run as far right as the current will allow, or try a drain hole esque move in front of it.  Below here it is class two for a hundred yards until you arrive at the take-out bridge!

Trip-clips

I would say the current wood situation renders the run inappropriate for a class III boater, fortunately the wood is generally of the size that moves around with large floods.  I plan to go back.

Access is not challenging.  Weyerhaeuser and local government put a gate on Crooked Finger road blocking access to the falls via the normal route.  This was done in the name of closing the area to riff-raff.  To get there now from Scotts Mills, take Maple Grove Rd East (just north of the bridge over Butte Creek in town) 7.4 miles (turn right to stay right on Maple Grove Rd at 4.4 mi) to Sawtell Rd and turn right.  7.7 miles later veer left (but not the far left road) onto Family Camp Rd.  Stay on the main gravel road, 3.2 miles later stay right and continue on the main gravel road for 1.2 miles at which point you will reach one of many Y's.  Going right will take you down to a bridge over Butte Creek a short distance above the waterfalls, or cross that bridge and in a short while there is a parking area on the right has a trail leading down to the falls.

Going left at the Y leads to the put in, at a spur going to the right and quickly over a bridge 2.2 miles from the Y.

I recommend plotting your route on a map, and caching a map on your phone to help with navigation your first time up there, and using the following GPS coordinates (your phone will try to take you the wrong way up Crooked Finger Road out of Scotts Mills though).


Take Out:  44.9223, -122.5113

Put In:  44.911, -122.4529

Here is a map of this section of Butte Creek, the falls are marked at the take out.

Click to enlarge

This one needs a lot of water. I would shoot for about 1,000 cfs or higher on the Butte Creek gauge. We probably had 600 on that estimate which was floatable but scrapy.

-Jacob

Butte Creek: Guidebook section (Salem)

BETA

Stream:  Butte Creek is a nice intermediate run near Salem with hassle free logistics not far from Highway 213 between Molalla and Silverton.  It is rain dependent, but does hold onto water for a few days after a rain and can be enjoyed at a wide range of flows without changing much in difficulty.  Aside from the put in and take out rapid (both can be skipped) the run consists of a few stand out class III-IV- rapids and loads of busy class II-III with small surf waves and jib rocks scattered throughout.

               At the put in is The Butte Crack, a narrow ramp that is nothing like the rest of the run.

.If you are not interested in starting the day with a rapid notably more difficult than anything else on the run, put in below via a number of fun seal launch options.   The first set of ledges is not far below the put in, they are easy but be sure not to get pulled into the narrow cracks that steal the flow at low water.  Being right is usually the safest bet.

Seal launching in at the put in.

After more floating and just above a bridge is Splittin' Hairs, a ledge with two channels.  The right side can usually be run down the center of the channel, keep that nose up!  The left can be run at medium flows, but gets pinny at low flows.

Cruisey water is later broken up by Knuckle Buster, the most notable of the class IV's.  This is a two part rapid that is worth a scout your first time down.  The first part ends in a small hole that is backed up on the right side, run the left side of the final ledge in this tier.

Priscilla carving into a neat pocket-eddy at the bottom tier in the first part of Knuckle Buster.  550 cfs

A small ledge hole separates the two parts of Knuckle Buster.  Below this hole, eddy out right to scout the second part of Knuckle Buster, which sometimes collects wood at the bottom.  There are many lines through this part of the rapid, but all of them are a bit odd at low flows.  Take a look, pick your route.

More easy floating waits below, with a few more enjoyable rapids and a ledge that can sneak up on paddlers best run just to the right of a mid-stream bush.  A nice, but short section of bedrock rapids along a basalt wall on the the right are a prelude to Scotts Mills Falls.  The creek pools up above the drop (next to a grassy park) at an obvious horizon line.  At low flows scout the rapid left or right, as flows increase it becomes more necessary to scout left.

 Scotts Mills Falls at low water.

Brandon Bloomquist: 260 cfs

Just below Scotts Mills Falls is a series of ledges, at most flows the center of the ledges is best avoided.  Eddy out after the last one on the left and walk a short trail back up to the road.  The closer you get to the bridge in town, the harder it is to get out of the creek.

It is possible to continue past Scotts Mills down to Cascade Hwy, where there are numerous surf waves at high flows (1500+) and rocky class II at lower flows.

  
Flows:  200-1200 cfs for a class III-IV trip.  300-1,000 is most common.  Use the Butte Creek @ Monitor gauge.

It's still runnable at 2,000 cfs but is more consistantly class IV, and Scotts Mills is getting on towards class V.  There are also some sticky holes to avoid at that flow, but mostly just a bunch of fun waves to surf and boily hydraulics.  The lines are in the same locations as at regular flows for the most part.



                                                               Luke Spencer:  Scotts Mills @1800 cfs

Access:  The take out is in the town of Scotts Mills, about 20 minutes East of I-5.  From either Silverton or Oregon City, take Hwy 211 (Cascade Hwy) to Scotts Mills Rd.  Take Scotts Mills road to Scotts Mills.  There is a bridge in town over Butte Creek, 100 yards upstream on river left is a city park where you park vehicles.  

To get to the put in, return to the bridge in town and cross over to river-right.  Take the next right onto Maple Grove, then turn right again immediately onto S Butte Creek Rd. Follow S Butte Creek Rd 4.6 miles to a right turn onto a private road owned by a Boy Scout/Horse Camp.  Immediately you cross over Coal Creek, which has been used as a put in before.  There is one slide here that can be run far right, the middle lands in bushes.  To get to the normal put in continue down the private road to a grassy area where the camp allows kayakers to park and use as a put in.  Do not park along the private roadway.

You can try calling these numbers with access questions.

                                                               Click on map to enlarge

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Original Write-up
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Jeff Hartley and I ran Butte Creek today.  The run was pretty uneventful but still a good time.  We had enough water that we kept moving along and there were enough rapids to keep us entertained.  Did not run the put-in drop but I plan on doing so next time.

Next time.

The Butte Crack