Rivers of Chile

Río Clarillo

kurt casey — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:28:12 +0000

The Río Clarillo is a high-quality springtime creek run in the Santiago area. The beauty of the Clarillo (like its name implies) is its crystal clear waters tumbling unimpeded over granite boulders. Unlike the other runs in the Santiago area, the Clarillo has clear water without a dam upstream.

A typical drop on the Clarillo

The river is short but sweet and can be done several times in one day and enjoyed by class 3,4 and 5 boaters alike. With no portages and boat-scoutable drops it is a natural choice for first time creek boaters with a solid roll.

The river lies entirely within the boundaries of Parque Nacional Río Clarillo, which has successfully protected a spectacular desert environment from the ever-encroaching megalopolis.

The river is rated Class III+ and flows in winter and spring with optimal flows 200-400 CFS (although higher would be no problem only pushier and solid class IV).

To reach the river from Santiago take Avenida Vickuña Mckena south out of the city to community of Puente Alto. In Puente Alto turn left (east) on any road and go a few blocks until reaching Av. Concha y Toro. Turn right (south) and cross over the Maipo River on Puente San Pedro and go to “T” intersection in community of Pirque. Turn right following sign to Los morros and go 1.5 KM to the statue of Virgen and go left following signs to “El Principal”. Continue staright (5.6 km) passing over a small creek on Puente Blanco until a small sign is reached for Parque Clarillo. Turn left and continue 1.4 km to another “T” intersection and turn left. Go 3.7 km to the National park office. Here you will be charged (2500 pesos at time of this writing) for each person entering the park. Proceed 3.6 km on a the now dirt road thru a white gate and use the parking area here for sector Maitenes as the takeout. A good trail leads to the river.

The put-in is 3 km upstream at the end of the road in Sector Rodeo. Another good trail leads to river

The visitors center at the takeout has an interesting display of the local flora and fauna. There are also a few short hikes within the park and plenty of areas to have an afternoon asado.

Río Colorado

kurt casey — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:25:40 +0000

I have trouble recommending the Río Colorado. On one hand it is one of the closest rivers to Santiago with an almost guaranteed strong water flow, paved roadside access and solid class IV rapids but on the other hand it is dangerous with very dark silt-laden water.

If you plan to run the river my biggest suggestion is to carefully SCOUT from your car before you put on. Have a plan and know exactly where you will take out and where you will portage.

Lower death sieve

To get to the river from Santiago simply reach “Las Vizcachas” at the mouth of the Cajon de Maipo and proceed upstream. A few KM after the town of El Manzano you will reach Puente Colorado. Just prior to the bridge is a dirt road that goes upstream 1-1/2 km to the Instituto Río Colorado. Here an ancient bridge over the river collapsed and a massive boulder rolled into the river creating the lower death trap sieve we call # 1. If you plan to boat this far carefully plan exactly which eddy you will use to get out and portage horrible sieve. At strong water flows you will need to exit at least 300 km upstream as no eddy exists on the approach.

View of Colorado River

To reach the put-in return to main road and cross Puente Colorado. A few hundred meters on the other side is a paved road turning to the left. Follow this road and proceed upstream. We put-in about 1 KM above the town Los Maitenes or 23 km up the paved road. We put in just after crossing the second side stream bridge above the town of Los Maitenes which was also first good place to make the 5 minute walk to the river and it was just after crossing under some hydroelectric pipes coming off the mountain.

Our trip abruptly ended at upper death sieve # 2 which is 12-1/2 km below the town of Los Maitenes or 8.7 KM up the paved road from the Maipo canyon. We never scouted this area from the road but should have. The river was running high with full springtime runoff (November 2, 2008). We had just run 13.5 KM of mostly class IV-IV+ boat-scoutable whitewater when we came to a curve in the river with nearly vertical rock walls. The mistake was boating too far and catching an eddy on river left. From here we could not get back upstream nor could we get out to scout what was downstream. The ferry to the other side of the river involved a tight angle thru pushy current and avoiding a juicy hole. One person missed their ferry and got pushed downstream into what turned out to be death sieve # 2. The whole river is blocked by boulders with a large river wide ledge hole just upstream. Our unfortunate boater got pummeled in the ledge whole then proceeded to swim thru the sieve. He survived but the boat and paddle did not. He wound up alone in the canyon amongst its vertical walls. We could not reach him until returning upstream, crossing river, walking up to road then walking downstream on road until we could rapel into canyon to set up belay for climb out. In all it took 4 hours. This could have been avoided if we had scouted the river from the road. The sieve canyon lies just downstream of a campground owned by Luis Vergara Martinez at KM 8.9

Ben May Rapeling into canyon

We estimate the flow of the run was 1500 CFS. Estimate it could be run from 600 CFS up to 2500 CFS. Water is cold but we did not have pogies.

Rio Colorado

Río Maipo

kurt casey — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:24:46 +0000

This is the training ground for Santiago’s kayaking community. Most Chilean kayakers get their start on the Maipo. Only an hour from the city with year round flows, a viable rafting community, plenty of places to stay/eat, and relatively easy paved roadside access, the Maipo is a favorite among locals and a good start for foreign boaters just arriving into Chile.

The river is referred to as either the “Upper” or the “Lower”

The fury of Frenchman’s corner

To reach the lower drive up the Maipo canyon. A good takeout spot is at KM39 just above Puente Toyo near town of El Melocotón. Put-in at KM47 above the town of San Alfonso. This 8 KM stretch usually takes one hour and is mostly class 3 with one mini canyon (rated class IV at high water) just below San Alfonso. Flows vary significantly from lows in autumn of 1000 CFS to 7500 CFS during full spring run-off. The lower run can be extended by taking out at Parque Los Heroes in San José de Maipo. The only dangers on the run besides big holes are some diversionary water intakes.

The “Upper” Maipo is a step up the evolutionary ladder. To reach the put-in drive upstream from San Alfonso to Puente El Yeso 2 km upstream from San Gabriel. Run the last stretch of the Yeso into Maipo. From here it is mostly class III-IV whitewater until reaching the “Frenchman’s corner”. It was here that an unsuspecting Frenchman blindly rounded the corner years ago to encounter some serious whitewater. At super high flows this whole stretch could be considered class V+ but even at extreme low flows would always be solid class IV.

Río Puesco

kurt casey — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:32:58 +0000

Tumbling off the flanks of the magnificent 3717 meter Volcan Lanin are the headwaters of Pucon’s Trancura River. While lower sections of the river close to Pucon see hundred’s of daily visitors from the numerous rafting companies, the upper reaches of the river are rarely explored.

At a distance of only 67 KM from Pucon is the put-in for one of Chile’s premier creek runs. This section of river has been dubbed the Puesco section and should be on every class 5 kayakers “TO DO LIST”.

The crystal clear water and extreme gradient make for an unforgettable day run.

To reach the river take the international road from Pucon to Argentina heading towards Paso Tromen or Mahuil Malal. From Pucon to Curarrehue (turn of for Maichin) it is 42 KM of paved road. From here to Put-in at Puente Puesco it is another 25 KM on what is now gravel road but soon to be paved. Before crossing Puente Puesco there is a turn off to the right. Head back this dirt track 100 meters, park and put-in on the calm waters of the Rio Puesco. Do not block this road as it is used by local residents.

At the put-in The Rio Puesco is very small but within approximately 500 meters the Rio Momolluco enters from the right and more than doubles the flow. From this point down the river (now actually the Trancura) gets very steep with countless ledge and boulder drops. About 1 KM down the river one will encounter a particularly burly drop called Tres Troncos which was aptly named for the 3 logs which are commonly pinned into the right channel of the drop. Depending on logs every drop on the river is run-able but everything can also be portaged.

3 KM into the run you will pass under a wooden bridge then a café on river left. The road is nearby and this is a possible takeout. One can continue another 4 KM downstream with lots more challenging whitewater that has less gradient than the upper 3 KM. Once you reach some braided gravel bars it is time to get out and hike back to the road. From the river it is hard to know where to get out but from the road a good marker is blue church on river left approximately 7 KM below put-in.

River rating:

Class v- for flows under 400 CFS or 12 cubic meters per second
Class V for flows between 400-600 CFS or 12 to 20 CMS
Class V+ for flows over 600 CFS or 20 CMS

Rio Rininahue

jared — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:55:12 +0000

Rio Rininahue is just down the road from Salto del Nilahue. It also flows into Lago Ranco. Usually, this river has extremely high flow for its micro gorge character all summer long. Best run very late summer. 1st descented February 2008, which was a low water year, by myself and Evan Garcia. We estimated about 500 cfs in the gorge and thought the upstream drops were still too high to run. We ran a 12 ft powerful drop with a scarey cave on river left in the lead in landing in a large bowled out room. The next and final drop is a 25 foot drop with a lead in ledge that fires you into a curl coming off the right wall that you smash into and plug into a deep pool. компютри втора употребаEvan Garcia on the last drop-we called Alerdio- because of its resemblence to Salto de Indio on the Gol Gol mixed with the Salto de Alerces on the Manso in Argentina, just a little smaller than both.Here are pictures of some drops, above the two we ran, still up for grabs on the Rininahue. Watch out for the nasty undercuts on this run, they\’re everywhere!1st drop-rininahue 3rd drop-rininahue

Salto del Nilahue

jared — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:38:06 +0000

Located south of Pucon in the Lake District. Rio Nilahue flows into Lago Ranco. The river only has one drop a Park n Huck 60 ft sloping waterfall. The falls changed recently making the drop more runnable. 1st descented by LJ Groth and Trip Jennings before the geological change. Previous drop was a 50+ foot boof in a left channel(notice trickle of water in picture), only runnable at extremely high water, onto a boily shelf falling another 3o+ feet. Now, since the shelf fell out there is a line in the right channel(pictured sloping ramp) which is safer at low water. At higher water an undercut wall at the bottom on river left comes in to play. Falls has been run by putting in directly above in a small eddy on river right, peel out and fall. Evan-Nilahue michael-downstream view

Rio Ancoa

jared — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:20:01 +0000

Located in the Maule region. Rough road to the put-in where the entire river comes from a tunnel. Put-in
Notice the water from the tunnel coming in from river right. Picture taken looking downstream.Put in beauty Great boogie class five rapids. One big river wide 6ft ledge hole about 1/3 of the way down. Scout and portage right. A weird sievey rapid after the second bridge, sneak left. Great read and run class 5 to a dam portage and easy rapids to the 3rd bridge. Bridge 2 to bridge 3 runs can be done in less than 30 minutes and you avoid the sketchy part of the shuttle road further up. The upper stretch above the 2nd bridge is very scenic big water feel class 4 rapids with the class 5 ledge. Upper section

Rio Gol Gol

jared — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:57:59 +0000

The Rio Gol Gol, if you can deal with the heinous culiwachos during the summer months(similar to horse flies), is in my opinion the best bang for your buck waterfall run in Chile. Easy put-in on the border of Argentina, literally at the border. Drops in order. 1st drop Salto de Novios(overlook from the road) 12 ft down the left boof run out down the left. paddler:Evan Garcia @ high water. 2nd drop 5 ft ledge boof right. Immediately following is the 3rd drop, powerful 20 foot waterfall, boof center. paddler: Dave Fusilli @ medium flow.4th drop higher water down the right plug into a sloping 20 foot seam(weird piton rock at lower water on the right) Med-low water we ran right, 2 step rapid boof left heading right off a 5 ft ledge followed by a sloping 10 ft ledge into a hole down the right. paddler: Evan Garcia finding the piton rock on the river left plug line.5th drop a 10 ft ledge boof left or center. paddler: Evan GarciaBoogie rapids lead to the 6th drop, 30ish ft tall Princessa, we scouted in the middle of the river on an island with an eddy directly above the falls. Tricky lead in. Caves and undercuts on the left at the bottom. Portage right. 7th and final drop and biggest, Salto de Indio, 45ft tall intimidating drop with a hole you have to skirt in the lead in and plug down the left. This drop serves up some crazy downtimes. pictured paddler: Chris Korbulic @ hiiiigh water! Portage left. Take out left at bridge downstream. What a river!

Manso Gorge in Argentina

jared — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:05:03 +0000

Max Blackburn running Salto de Alerces on the Rio Manso Argentina.The Rio Manso about 300 km south of Bariloche is located within Los Alerces National park. You have to pay to enter the park during the day. Park Rangers leave around 5 pm, after which you can sneak by. Pay camping and free camping within the park. No fires, only in pay camping areas. Don’t tell anyone you are running the falls or the river, unless you have permission. Shuttle is a mission. Take out for the Manso Gorge requires a 6 km lake paddle out on lake Steffan. The shuttle takes about 3-4 hours to drive.
Dave Fusilli running the other option at Salto de Alerces, known as the slide in the river left channel.Here are a few photos of the Manso Gorge section below Salto de Alerces. This is a shot of the 3rd drop in the gorge below Alerces.big drop-manso gorgeThis drop was 1st descented this year (February 2008) a few weeks after this picture was taken. There is a river wide ledge hole before this waterfall, that is normally considered a portage, but is runnable. The river necks down to about 15 feet wide with vertical walls on either side. Portage on the left for the big falls as well.manso.jpgThis is a rapid in the gorge below the big falls.The last time we tried to run the gorge we were turned away by park rangers who informed us we needed permission from the park office in Bariloche. We did the run a few weeks before at higher water and had no run ins with park rangers. The Salto de Alerces is illegal to run. Great river if you feel like huckin your meat, otherwise…its really pretty.

Rio Maule

kurt casey — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:52:51 +0000

Getting to the Maule can be very confusing but the rewards are worth it. The Maule features warm water and 21 km of class 3-5 whitewater with a big water feel. Located in Chile’s 7th region the Maule is a good run to help break up the drive for kayakers in transit from Santiago to the Southern Rivers. An upstream dam near the Argentina border provides for fairly consistent summer flows.

Franz Helfenstein on Rio Maule foto by John Mattson

The word Maule was derived from a mapuche word meaning
“lluvioso” or rainy which is somewhat strange as the Maule drainage is set in an incredibly arid desert environment. The Maule also has two other interesting feautres to note. First the Maule forms the divisional line between the clear waters of Southern Chile and the silty (on non dammed) rivers found to the North. Secondly the Maule valley has the distinction of being the southern terminus of the both the Spanish and Inca empires. the proud and fierce native Mapuche warriors took a stand at the Maule and it was never to be crossed.

From the city of Talca turn east and drive up the Maule drainage. Do not be concerned if the riverbed becomes completely dry. This is from the upstream dams and dewatering for irrigation purposes. Continue driving upstream until you reach the police checkpoint in La Mina (approximately 100 km from Talca). Here you will need to present and probably leave your passport to continue upstream. Many kayakers have been stymied at this point due to poor paperwork on the vehicles, no passports, etc. Be polite and if asked say you want to visit the hot springs. A death occurred on the river a few years ago and the police might argue if you make it obvious you plan to boat.

Surfing on the Maule foto by John Mattson

Once through the checkpoint the riverbed should once again have plenty of water so continue 1-2 km to the Banos de El Medano (925 meters above sea level). These hot springs serve as the takeout. To reach the put in, continue 21 km to the swinging bridge which leads to some very marginal hot springs on the other side of the river. This bridge at 1525 meters above sea level is the normal upper put in. At higher flows above 2000 CFS most mortals will tuck their tail between their legs and move 2 km downstream to avoid this initial section of class 5+ thundering chaos. After the first 2 KM the river rhythm tapers off and opens up into wide open high speed wave trains with some great play. Three times throughout the run the river enters distinct canyons each of which contains serious whitewater. Like many kayak runs it just so happens that you do not see these canyon stretches from the vehicle while driving to the put-in. Depending on water levels some may choose to portage parts of these canyons none of which is more than a few hundred meters long.

Note 1: I once ran the Maule in early October on natural flow and it was excellent. The water up highs tarted out small but ice cold glacial tributaries entered constantly making the takeout volume substantial.

Note 2: A few km above the swinging bridge put in is a 100+ foot waterfall. Definitely worth the minimal effort to see this impressive site.

Note 3: Ben May and Nathan Sullivan report more intense whitewater above the falls but below the lake and the border crossing.

Note 4: Other great nearby rivers are The Ancoa, Achibueno, Melado