Black Canyon – more Colorado River flatwater

[levity]

Mrs. levity and I left the coast for the river earlier this week to paddle Topock Gorge below Davis Dam and Black Canyon below Hoover Dam.  For Black Cyn we camped at Willow Beach, 12 miles downstream, and got a shuttle to the Hoover Dam 8AM launch from desertiriveroutfitters.com.  They provided a map showing interesting points along the way.

Here’s the reason there’s flat water on the Colorado below Lake Mead:



the Dam thing in the background is 726 ft high and took 6.6B tons of concrete!

Given that the pressure at the base of the dam is 45,000lb/sq.ft., a short prayer is recommended before leaving.




The river was low, but there was still a nice current much of the way making paddling easy (gps speeds 5-7 mph).




At times I got to paddling so fast that it boiled the water




The canyon was beautiful, with steep walls and neat rock formations.






Partway downriver a short hike up a side canyon leads to some hot springs and a series of nice pools






Further down the canyon opens up and the river widens before the Willow Beach takeout.






Conditions on a fall weekday were perfect – temps around 80°, cloudless skies, little or no wind, and we only saw a couple of boats and a handful of kayaks.  Expect more SUP’ers in the future!

[Badfish]

Love that paddle! I did it for the first time last winter. Going back in early December. Such a trip to put in right at the base of the dam. Thanks for sharing the photos. Getting stoked now!

[suprbowl]

Jealous!!!!

[levity]

Mrs. levity and I returned for a spring paddle on March 11.  Conditions were about as good as it gets: calm with temps 55-75° through the morning.

Just below Hoover Dam there’s a hot spring that comes out at the river’s edge.  Water near the spring was warm and steaming.




A little further down we pulled in at a beach called “Boy Scout Camp” and walked up the small canyon to some warm pools.






After that just lots of nice paddling down river…

[lucabrasi]

Very nice. I am glad you took another trip and reposted. I think I saw this last fall and forgot completely about it.
Any hints for this trip? We are going.......somewhere in the desert in a couple of weeks and I guess I hadn't done the right kind of searching for around Lake Mead. It just didn't seem all that attractive for what I was hitting upon. Didn't think to look below the dam.

[levity]

...Any hints for this trip? We are going.......somewhere in the desert in a couple of weeks ..

Watch the weather! A south wind can make paddling tough in open areas.

Black Cyn is closed to motor boats and jet skis Sunday and Monday.
Off season, non-holiday Mondays will be least busy.

Lots of local outfitters provide shuttles and launch permits.  Security is tight around Hoover Dam, and you have to be escorted from the Hacienda Hotel/Casino near Boulder City to the put-in between 7-9AM.  You can be picked up 12 miles down river at Willow Beach in the afternoon and return to the Hotel.  We prefer to camp at Willow Beach and get an early morning shuttle to the launch.  That way our car is waiting whenever we arrive.  We've been happy using Desert River Outfitters -- they know the river and can provide advice about sights to see.

Take your time and explore the side canyons and hot springs!

[lucabrasi]

Thanks for sharing, all good info to know for sure. I know the wind can be horrendous at times down that way in the spring.

[JillRide45]

Just want to also make clear that this is a really nice trip even for a fairly new paddler.  With the current you can just cruise along.  There are a couple of very small rapids where a new paddler may want to go to their knees but they are over quickly and are easy to navigate.  Just check the Wind and make sure it is North or East.

After we finish Black Canyon we head down south about 120miles to Needles and paddle Topock Gorge (17 miles).  Topock has less current and is more prone to wind than Black.  Again just check the wind.  The last two times we have gone there has been a north wind which resulted in a downwinder for the last 3 miles, love it!

Have fun, Jill

[supthecreek]

Boy... those pictures looked inviting... so serene... thanks.
I have stood at the top of Hover Dam.... yowza...  paddling below it would be a bit freaky...

Definitely a great trip!

[Fog City Rider]

WOW, that sure beats the crowded city.  Beautiful stuff.

[SUPinSC]

wow wow wow.....how I plan to do sightseeing when I travel from now on!  Amazing trip and photos, thanks for sharing!

[tallguy]

Aloha everybody!

Just curious if anyone has done this trip recently, and if the permitting, shuttles, and non-motorized traffic info is still the same, or have the Regs changed in recent times???