Iowa's newest whitewater venue has arrived in Cedar Falls! The Gateway Park complex includes a number of whitewater features (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Clay Hole). Local paddlers are still working on establishing water level to feature correlations but here is the initial guideance from the paddling community..
Alpha The Prairie Rapids are the focal point of the park with excellent access and “hang out” locations in the vicinity of the features. This area has proven to draw users of all types and not just the instream funhogs! Alpha is prime from 5600 CFS down to 2200 CFS. It provides a very good wave/hole that can be used by all instream users. At the upper level it can be very “rowdy”, yet still incredibly user friendly. The eddy on both sides are well defined and obtainable at all levels.
Bravo Bravo is prime from 6k CFS down to 3200 CFS. The eddies are well defined, but at upper levels are fast with mixed current (intermediate user level). 5600 CFS to 3700 CFS is a good surf level and the feature is best for smaller play kayaks and surfboards.
Charlie Charlie is best 8k CFS to 4k CFS. The river left eddy of Charlie is sharp at these levels, but still very obtainable. It provides fun water down to 2800cfs then fades.
Clay Hole Clay Hole shows up at 4100 CFS and completes the “Quad Fecta” of Prairie Rapids. It is playable at 4k CFS and surfable at 3600 CFS. It provides playboating fun as low as 1300 CFS and can be surfed as well. The hole behind the foam pile is deep enough for vertical moves down to 2k CFS. The downstream section comes up fast (20 feet downstream from the seam) so a fast roll is needed.
This playspot was originally named after the 'Clay Equipment Co.' which was located next to the river years ago. The river bottom in this section is bedrock with some sand & gravel. The previous Clay Hole features were created by an old 'beautification' dam which were removed as part of the new whitewater park construction.
Information link:
https://www.gatewayriverpark.com/\_files/ugd/906a52\_d448d5b3cf724b30af3f1906bbc860f4.pdf
To Get There:
Find the intersection of Hwy 57 and Main Street in Cedar Falls, IA. Go across the river on Main Street and turn right onto Lincoln St. Proceed about 3 blocks to Greeley Street and turn right (by the bait shop). There will be a parking area next to the river just above the play hole.
For the non-playboater:
There is plenty of flatwater for rec boaters. In fact, after play, you can float a mile or so downstream to
George Wyth State Park and take out right at your camp site. There are over 60 miles of surfaced
bike trails with some single track dirt trails. Main St. has many cafes, bars, antique shops, bike shop, etc., so stay a while.