The Paddle Out

If you have shuttled vehicles downstream to CTH.ZZ, when you are done playing, follow the flow downriver (pick a channel) until the islands give way to wide open river, where you'll paddle to far-right to a landing with zig-zag paved path up to parking for just a few vehicles.

At flows less than 'three gates' (less than 9000 cfs in channel), all channels between the islands downstream will be exceedingly shallow, necessitating 'knuckle-walking' or getting out to carefully drag your boat in some stretches. At the scheduled release flows, I would not recommend the bother! (Though the alternatives described below are not all that much better!)

Some boaters will either:
A) Park at the Nature Center, then use a combination of paddling and portaging (from the far-left Mill Channel) to either get back above the short dam to then paddle to far-right channel to drop into the 'Nature Center Channel', or to just get over to the river-right shore to get out at the Nature Center.
B) Park at Elm Street bridge (on the first big island, near 'the Trolls'), whereby they'll finish their trip by paddle and portage to get above the short dam, then paddle across/up to the landing river-right below 'UGH' (Uniform Gnarly Hydraulic), to then carry back to their vehicle.

I'm sure some (many?) paddlers will find the inconvenience of all this to be a major drawback of the run (again, at least, at flows under 'three gates'/9000cfs). I tend to consider it part of the unique allure of this 'in-town wilderness' run!

ALSO . . . you will often hear gunshots while on the river! Don't be too concerned -- there is a "Sportsmen's Club" just across the street from our listed take-out.