Bull Run

 

BETA

1.5 miles

Stream: A short, but high quality class III run that flows into the Sandy River at Dodge Park.  The normal section has a handful of quality class III rapids, and is a great place to work on skill development by catching eddies and learning to use currents to your advantage.  The rock is conglomerate, and for the entire run paddlers are in a lush setting with steep, broken walls.

There is even a slalom course in the first rapid.  I once spent a morning following Steve Cameron around the slalom course, and found I had noticeably improved my boat control by the end of the day.  I was surprised to find that at the level we were there, it was possible to attain all the way up the rapid.

  
 The put in area is owned by PGE, and they have historically allowed access to the river.  Over the years people (not kayakers) have shown less and less respect for the place as shown by the left-behind trash and as a result there are now "no-trespassing" signs up.  Though kayakers are still allowed to use the access point, thank you PGE.

The rapids are all class III and are either open with lots of route choices, or there are two rapids where large boulders pinch the river down into the center of the river, which is also where paddlers want to go.

One of the open rapids

 

One of the pinch rapids.

The last notable rapid is Swing-set, named for the cable high across the river here.  This rapid changes a lot with water level, but is most notable for the large waves it develops when levels are up.

At low water the line is more technical, I usually drive right, then back to middle.

Downstream of Swingset it's easy floating down to Dodge Park, with the opportunity for skill building still available.

Upstream of the put in the river maintains it's classic character with miles of class III-IV and China Shop (a portage-able class V) set in a conglomerate gorge all the way up to the outflow of Reservoir 1 (45.445303, -122.158096).  However that section is off-limits with heavy consequences for disregarding the closure.



Flows:  The river has been run as low as 50 cfs, and as high as 10,000 cfs.  Here is a story from a raft trip at 6,300 cfs.  Most people shoot for 300-1,500 cfs for a III-III+ experience. 2,000-4,000 is fun class IV.

Use the Bull Run @ Bull Run gauge.

Access:  Take out at Dodge Park(45.4447, -122.2487), about 3.5 miles north of the town of Sandy, OR.  North on Bluff Rd for 3.2 miles, right onto Hudson for 1.1 miles, then right onto Lusted Rd for 1.3 miles.  Just after crossing the Sandy River, turn left into Dodge Park.  The Bull Run is at the back of the park, and is where you want to park vehicles.  The stream with the bridge over it is the Sandy River.

To get to the put in (45.4281, -122.2326), coming out of Dodge Park turn left onto Lusted Rd for 1.8 miles and turn left onto Ten Eyck Rd.  Follow for 0.8 before turning left down onto Bull Run Rd, which leads down to the put in bridge in 0.6 miles.  Just before the bridge turn left into the PGE parking area, and take one of the steep trails down to the river.  Note the access concern mentioned below.

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Story
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 The Bull Run has a special place in my heart, I grew up ten minutes from dodge park, and made the transition from only boating in a raft with occasional IK time on multiday trips once or twice a year to seeking out day-trips kayaking in the Sandy drainage (the Bull Run flows into the Sandy).

The first "hardshell only" trip I ever did was with my dad on the Bull Run when I was 13. My dad had acquired an RPM Max and borrowed a Redline for me. We decided to try the Bull Run River at a flow of 56 cfs.  My only time in a hardshell had been on the last half hour of the Main Salmon in Idaho.  And my dad had spent most of his time in either a raft or inflatable kayak.  Given that combination of experience, I don't think either of us had ever even hit a rock with a hardshell before.

There was no one there to tell us how bad of a time we should be having at a flow that low, so we had a blast route finding and pulling ourselves from channel to channel.
Swing-set channelized at this flow and was the first "creeky rapid" I had scouted and ran.  This was the day that got me hooked on kayaking.

I went on to have many more runs on the Bull Run, and some firsts including my first flip (resulting in my first swim), then my first combat roll.  My first high water runs were on the Sandy and Bull Run, as well as my first trips without my dad, just the Hymels and I.  We also did a couple exploratory descents on a tributary of the Bull Run, including one I did my senior project on.  There is plenty of nostalgia for me when I go back to the Bull Run.

My dad running the first part of Swing-set at 700 cfs.

Soaking it in below Swing-set.

          -Jacob