Nanaimo River

Beta: 11.9 km (7.4 mi), class II/III, gradient 7 m/km (35 ft/mi)

Gauge: Nanaimo near Cassidy (be sure to switch to discharge view) available as a realtime gauge through Water Survey web site. Best above 20 cms (700 cfs).

Fun Fact: Good beginner run at moderate flows. Access can be a challenge.

Character: Boulder gardens and bedrock ledges through open river valley dominated by clear cuts.

Season: October to June. Runs on rain and snowmelt. Flows moderated by lakes upstream of the run.

Logistics: From Nanaimo (Yahoo map), take Highway 1 south about 3 km to Nanaimo River road which parrallels the river along river left (follow signs to Nanaimo Lakes). Head 7.1 km up this road (2.8 km past the turnoff for White Rapids Road), and park along the road at the turn-off for NRR-71 which is a gated gravel road that heads down to the old White Rapids Mine site. From this point head straight down toward the river to scout out your take-out (currently a good road arcs around to the right). Look for a trail that heads through old mine tailings to the river. It's about a 20 minute walk to this access at House Rock Rapid. There is another access point at an old bridge site. To reach it continue upstream 11.8 km from Highway 1 to the gated E252 road (this is 0.6 km west of a point where the road crosses a ravine). There may be a good road/trail combination here or you'll end up walking through a couple clearcuts. It's not a very good access. The preferred put-in is up the road 17 km from Highway 1 where a major gravel road turns down to the left and across a bridge (it may be closed due to logging operations on weekdays). The access options aren't great and there may be others.

Description:

The Nanaimo is a decent beginner run with some fun rapids. The downside is the access is not great and you'll likely have to do some hiking since much of the land along the river is managed for active logging. Most of the run is class II with a couple class III drops near the beginning. The biggest drop on the run is House Rock Drop near the end of the run. There is a good take-out option before the drop if you don't want to run it or you can run this class III/IV rapid and continue a couple hundred meters downstream through a neat bedrock canyon.

Whitewater Trips for Kayakers, Canoeists and Rafters on Vancouver Island