Run Map

Run Time Estimate

Put-in

Take-out

Select put-in and take-out to estimate time.

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Whitewater timing varies with scouting, portages, and group pace. Use as a planning baseline.

Description

Put-in is via carrying down from Lutsen Ski Area parking lot, or (alternatively) by driving (or hiking) further up toward the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) bridge and carrying down to wherever it looks survivable (an awesome stretch of serious cascades precedes the runnable reach). Action starts with busy, technical, continuous class II+ water, with a few larger individual drops interspersed. The biggest drop is _Bialek's Surprise_ (a fairly smooth sliding ramp) and the gorge immediately below. (The 1st descent was by a boater who failed to get out to scout it first ... Surprise!). The stretch below the initial slide earns the '(V)' in the rating at anything other than low water. Beyond this crux area is more fun boogeying until the golf course bridge. Just beyond this bridge a very significant drop exists. While it is runnable, many folks may pass since it puts the paddler into a deep gorge where they have to backtrack for egress.