Upper Klamath (Hell's Corner)
Oregon border / far NE California (upper Klamath) · near Klamath Falls OR / Ashland OR · Shasta Cascade
Rivers & Whitewater
At a glance
- Season
- Summer · Dam-controlled releases give reliable warm-season whitewater (rare for the far north)
Permits and booking
- Permit
- PacifiCorp dam-release flows on the Klamath's upper Hell's Corner reach straddling the CA/OR border. Commercial outfitters permitted. Note: major Klamath dam removals (completed 2024) are reshaping the river — confirm current run status.
What is here
- Activities
- guided-rafting · kayaking
Worth knowing
- Minimum age
- 12+ (varies with flow)
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Operators
- Momentum River Expeditions · Noah's River Adventures · Indigo Creek Outfitters
- Outfitters
- Noah's River Adventures · Momentum River Expeditions
Rivers & Whitewater detail
- Nickname
- The Border Big-Water Run
- Class min
- III
- Class max
- IV+
- Trip options
- Full-day and 2-day trips · Reliable dam-release summer flows
- Key rapids
- Caldera · Hell's Corner gorge
- Intl tip
- The Klamath dam-removal project reopened hundreds of miles of salmon habitat — this is living conservation history. The reach sits near the CA/OR border; Ashland, Oregon (theater, food) is the natural base. Combine with the far-north Lava Beds (caving guide) and Modoc country.
The guide
The upper Klamath's Hell's Corner reach, straddling the California-Oregon border, is the far north's rare reliable summer big-w…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Upper Klamath (Hell's Corner) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 42.018, -122.04