Thomas Creek is short and sweet with many quality rapids, some surf spots, pretty waterfalls and lush forests. Large logs lurk in and around the river, just like on every other creek in the PNW.
This run is hard to catch because the gate that permits a reasonable shuttle is only open for a brief period in autumn, during hunting season. Regional rains typically begin in November but lining up a day off with a suitable flow is not easy. For locals who know about this gem, the time spent roaming logging roads in search of a launch point is a worthwhile investment.
Horizon lines are abundant and the whitewater is evenly split between class III and class IV, except when the water levels are higher and the pools disappear. At low and moderate flows this creek is technical, with beautiful eddies and boofs, and can be used to introduce paddlers to steeper water. Above 1400 cfs or so the pools start to push through, funny water develops, and some of eddies turn into holes. Avoiding the inevitable wood and rescuing the occasional swimmer gets harder.
One early rapid ( _Runaway_) has a wall on the right and boulders on the left. This rapid can get interesting, as paddlers often miss the scouting eddies and find themselves runaway as they head through a chute and over a folding ramp. Many fun intermediate rapids make up the bulk of the run below Runaway, culminating in three good rapids at the end that stand out ( _Firebox, Shoo Fly,_ and _Caboose_). These rapids can be scouted, or read and run if you have prior knowledge of wood. _Firebox_ is usually run on the right through an exciting hydraulic that doesn't hold boaters, but can cause them to shoot out in interesting ways. _Shoo Fly_ does't look like much from above, but if you don't make a strong move to the right, a folding hydraulic can push boaters into the left wall/pocket. _Caboose_ is the largest of the rapids on the run, and flushes boaters through 3 ledges on the left, one on top of the next. A sneak route does exist by driving far right on the first ledge.
Advanced boaters may be interested in starting a couple miles above the standard put in for a
bit more spice including a
30 foot falls with a giant log in it. The whitewater between the two possible takeouts is class II but goes quickly.
GAUGE The gauge is downstream river right at the Highway 226 bridge over Thomas Creek near Shindler Bridge Road. It's worth taking a peek on your way up. Six inches in minimal, 7 inches is a good flow for the falls, and all of it can be run a
fair bit higher. Below is a start at determining correlations between feet and cfs on the Scio gage. If you collect this kind of data (feet to cfs comparisons), please share it by posting a comment. Thanks.
Foot Gauge CFS
12 ------------------- ?
11.5 ------------------- ?
11 ------------------- ?
10.4 ------------------- 3,000
10 ------------------- 2,800
9.5 ------------------- 2,400
9 ------------------- HIGH 2,000 cfs
8.5 ------------------- 1,800 Med/High, pushy IV+
8 ------------------- 1,400 Medium+
7.5
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- 1,100 Perfect Medium
^ Ideal range for falls ^
6.5 ------------------- 640 Friendly Low
6 ------------------- 450 Scrapey Runnable
5.5 ------------------- 275 Too low
5 ------------------- 150
4.5 ------------------- 70
4 ------------------- 25
GATED ROAD: Access is restricted by Weyerhaeuser and the gate is only open during the fall hunting season. It is possible to run a long shuttle and drive around some back route to the put-in, but few boaters have the time. There has been talk of further restricting access.
American Whitewater works hard to protect and regain boaters' access to runs like this, and we appreciate your help.
There is a trip report with directions for both the standard upper run and an alternate put-in at
Into the Outside. There's a high water
Upper Thomas description and photos at
Oregon Kayaking.
Thomas was likely run back in the hey-day of Oregon exploration by Eric Brown or Dan Coyle. The falls wasn't run during the media age until Matt King probed the right side in 2010:
view the video.
The falls has seen a few more modern descents since that run by Matt. Here is a video showing the falls and some of the rapids at low water:
View Video
DIRECTIONS: The take out is easy to find. It is located less than 15 miles East of Scio, OR. Take Hwy 226 to Thomas Creek Dr, following until it turns to gravel which is where the gate is. One possible takeout is at the gate (and an intersection with a road that crosses the river), and there is another one 2.2 miles upstream at a bridge on a side road (shown on map). The gate is generally open during
Cascade Deer or Elk hunting season, in November and early December. Call 888-741-5403 to be sure.
STANDARD PUT-IN: Finding the put-in is tricky as the area is perforated by logging roads. Expect to do some backtracking and exploring, as most maps are wrong and most directions are inadequate. Roads can be blocked by fallen trees so bring your saw! Dragging your boats through clearcuts to get to the water has happened more than once. There is a launch that puts you in upstream from the first major 'wall on the right' rapid, and another one that starts below it. Anyone with GPS technology for replicating any route to the water is invited to comment about it and share info so that we can get more clear about these directions. It's a maze in there.
UPPER PUT-IN To get to the upper put in from the take out return to Thomas Creek drive and continue the way you were going 3.8 miles ( _stay right at 2 and 2.9 miles_) where you will meet up with a more heavily travelled road, merge right. 2.9 miles past this merge ( _stay straight at 1 mile, drive through a yellow gate shortly after, then pass the road leading down to Thomas Creek Falls at 1.8 miles_) you will cross over Thomas Creek, there will be notably less water than at the take out. Stay left on the road along the creek, 3/4 of a mile past this bridge you will reach another bridge over a tributary where you park. Walk down the nose of land to the creek to put in.