Upper San Joaquin (Mammoth Pool region)
Sierra National Forest (east of Fresno) · near Fresno (distant) / Mammoth Pool · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- Spring snowmelt only · Extremely flow- and access-dependent
Permits and booking
- Permit
- Sierra National Forest wilderness. Remote, dam-affected upper stretches with snowmelt-dependent windows. Expert expedition kayaking; not a commercial-raft river. Serious self-sufficiency required.
What is here
- Activities
- kayaking · multi-day
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- Adults / expert only
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Outfitters
- Expert expedition kayakers only
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- The Remote Sierra Expedition
- Class min
- III
- Class max
- V
- Trip options
- Expert multi-day wilderness expeditions · Spring only
- Key rapids
- Wilderness Class IV–V gorges
- Intl tip
- This is deep Sierra National Forest country near Mono Hot Springs (swimming guide) and the Mammoth Pool Reservoir. The John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails cross the San Joaquin's headwaters. Access via the long, slow Kaiser Pass road — remote in every sense.
The guide
The upper San Joaquin, draining the High Sierra east of Fresno through the Mammoth Pool country, is one of California's remote …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Upper San Joaquin (Mammoth Pool region) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.312, -119.323