Eel River
Mendocino / Humboldt Counties (Hwy 101 corridor) · near Garberville / Leggett · North Coast
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- Winter–spring for flow (rain-fed) · Summer stretches become warm, mellow swimming/floating
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Largely free-flowing through the Eel River Wilderness and redwood country. Winter/spring rains bring Class II–III floating; summer drops to mellow flatwater and swimming holes (see swimming guide). Self-guided.
What is here
- Activities
- kayaking · self-guided · tubing · multi-day
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- Family-friendly at summer flows
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- Redwoods & Rivers
- Outfitters
- Self-guided / seasonal local rentals
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- The Redwood-Country Float
- Class min
- I
- Class max
- III
- Trip options
- Multi-day flatwater/Class II wilderness float · Self-guided
- Key rapids
- Winter/spring Class II–III · Summer flatwater & swimming
- Intl tip
- The Eel parallels Hwy 101 and the Avenue of the Giants through the world's finest coast redwood groves. Combine a summer float with Humboldt Redwoods State Park, the swimming holes, and the Lost Coast (hiking guide) for the definitive redwood-country trip.
The guide
The Eel is Northern California's redwood-country river — a long, largely free-flowing system winding through the wilderness and…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Eel River — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 40.108, -123.786