Wooley Creek


I think the gauge was around 5' when we did this run. We had done SF Salmon the day before, and camped out at the trailhead to Wooley. When we hit the trail in the morning I quickly figured out that my backpack system sucks. The initial mile of this hike is a pretty brutal elevation gain, and in the sun but once you make it up around the ridge its not too bad. We put in right above the bottom gorge, a total hike in of 2-2.5 miles. The scenery on this run is great, its one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.


The rapids are also fantastic, class IV-V read and run drops, similar to but larger than the Salmon that it feeds into.


Our run went by really fast, and next thing we knew we Stienacher Creek was coming in and had this beautiful waterfall that motivated Jon enough to hike his boat above it and run it.

Next time I'd either do Bridge or hike further in, it took us maybe half a day to do the hike in and bottom section. Wooley Creek is a major tributary of the Cal-Salmon, one under five creeks in California that supports a summer stealhead run, and forests of poison oak and ticks of course. To reach the trailhead you drive about 4-5 miles up the Salmon from Hwy 96 and park at Wooley Creek trailhead and then hike on in and takeout directly across from the trailhead at Brannon Bar.