Topock Gorge – paddling Colorado River flatwater

[levity]

Topock Gorge is in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge south of Needles, CA, and north of Lake Havasu, and offers scenic flatwater paddling on the Colorado river.  Mrs. levity (aka JillRide45) and I waited for the summer heat and crowds to go away.  The weather for Oct. 16 looked perfect – day temps low 90s, evenings high 60s, little or no wind.  Oct. 17 also looked nice, so we could follow up with a paddle though Black Canyon below Hoover Dam the next day.

We camped at Pirate’s Cove (Park Moabi) on the river and made arrangements with Dave at Jerkwatercanoe.com to pick us up at Castle Rock (15 miles down river) and shuttle us back.  He also provided advice on sights to see and how to find Castle Rock Bay behind the reeds at the take-out (so we didn’t end up wandering down Lake Havasu!).

We arrived Monday evening, pumped up the ULI inflatables, and played around a bit to get used to the river currents and eddies.  Here’s a view from our campsite that shows how calm the river was.  The current would push you along at almost 2 mph so we could cruise at 5+ mph – SWEET!  Paddling back upstream was more work, but was easy close to shore.




Tuesday we launched about 7:30am.  Conditions were ideal,




the river serene,




the views enchanting.




There were nice beaches with shade and/or sun if you wanted a break. Looking downstream,




looking upstream.




A bend in the river called Devil’s Elbow




had tall cliffs




and lots of interesting rock formations.




Here’s a view back toward the gorge after the river began to widen




We had to keep a sharp eye for the takeout at Castle Rock – there was just a narrow trail/tunnel through the weeds along the shore.




All in all, a fantastic paddle!

Dave picked us up at noon, and after breaking camp we drove north to Willow Beach and Black Canyon.  More on that in another thread.

[supthecreek]

Now we're talkin'! That's absolutely perfect.

Plus it made me think about the value of an inflatable....
great for a trip a cross country... paddling lots of beautiful spots like that.

Thanks for the pictures.

[tulipcity paddle]

Cool! Looks like a fun little tour.

[Celeste]

Wow, what a beautiful trip, thanks for taking us along.

Creek, not only the value of an inflatable for a cross country trip, but really cranks up the desire for that trip.

[JillRide45]

We actually live only about 4 hours from the Colorado,  but on trips like this we love to be self contained and take our camper van.  The Airstream Westy is 11'6" tall with a fiberglass top so no rack on it!  Inflatables are perfect if you have an RV.  Just carry the inflatables inside.  Also campgrounds can have a lot of hidden boobie traps like rocks and sticks that can kill a carbon board.  You can see the van in the background of one of these shots.  This shot is getting in the river at 7:30am. 

I also had to throw in the sunbathing photo, just love the inflatable for lying on and taking a relaxing break.  I could have fallen to sleep out there and just drifted down stream.

Cheers, Jill

[ADKSUPr]

Looks like a great trip with spectacular scenery!

[SaltH2Opaddler]

Nice to see the women behind the name!!! Glad you 2 had a good time.

Some beautiful pics!!!!

[levity]

Mrs. levity and I returned for a spring paddle March 12.  Great conditions: calm or slight north wind behind us with temps 60-80°.

starting out




panorama shot as we head toward “The Needles” and the gorge



“Devils Elbow” area in the gorge