A great roadside run on the Wild and Scenic Elk River for the class IV paddler. Can be split into two runs with an upper run from Butler Creek to Purple Mountain and a lower run from Purple Mountain down to the Fish Hatchery.
The upper run is class II and III with one class IV. The lower run features about 5 class IV's, two harder than the rest. One of the big ones is visible from the road, but most of the others are not that easy to see. High water quality with good gradient and a tight gorge. There is camping year round along the river, making this a good weekend option when other small streams around Oregon may be running a little low.
There is a good trip report linked below, with a neat video about the conservation of the area. This is really one of Oregon's special places.
http://www.nwrafting.com/river-descriptions/the-elk-river
For flows, call this number: (541) 332-0405. 3' is about the minimum recommended level as of 2016. The right bank near the gauge is a cobble bar, so this gauge may vary slightly year to year.
3.5-4' is probably the friendliest first-time range, while at higher levels the run is more consistently class IV.
Full-size rafts will find the river navigable at flows at 5' and could go higher or a bit lower, while smaller R2s may find that 4' is still an enjoyable level for the lower section.
Note that there are two gauges at the fish hatchery, the one that reports on the flow phone is downstream of the boat ramp/take out. The one at the upstream end of the hatchery can read a full foot higher and is affected by an artificial dam.
Use the lower gauge. Note that some of the comments on this page show pictures and refer to the upper gauge, so keep in mind that those reports refer to an inflated gauge reading, and the flow phone may have been reporting as much as a foot lower that day.
Like the nearby Smith drainage, this river can be run at a wide range of flows without a large fluctuation in difficulty.