Middle Piru Creek, California

Middle Piru Creek

Story by Charles Foster

Piru Gorge
Photo by Keith Beck

Prelude

The crusty old fisherman took a drag off his cigarette, squinted up at the kayak atop my truck, then gave me a thorough onceover. "Not thinking about running the creek, are you?" At that moment I knew that Piru Creek would be a classic. Every time I've been warned by locals about how rough their neighborhood creek is, an excellent run has followed. A quick mountain bike ride up to the head of Lake Piru confirmed that the previous night's torrential rains had brought to inflow up to a respectable 1100 cfs. A couple of phone calls convinced Rick Norman and Keith Dinger to join me for a trip the following day. That night, another big rainstorm passed through. Uh-oh, what'll that do to the flow? Feelings of unease made it hard to go to sleep.

Sunday March 12, 1995 dawned clear and sunny, and I consoled myself with the fact that the creek had been run successfully a few years past at 1500 cfs - although that trip had been led by the infamous Phil Martin, a man well known by Central California SAR helicopter pilots.

As I drove up I-5, roadside signs were full of encouraging news: "Route 5 closed north of 99 junction"; "PCH Closed at Topanga Canyon"; "Malibu Canyon Road Closed". Yep, we got some rain alright. But on the final approach to the takeout, Castaic Creek and the Santa Clara River had both dropped, and the outflow from Lake Piru looked no higher than it had the previous day. The run was on! And Piru Creek exceeded all of our expectations.

The Run

The first half mile below Frenchman's Flat is mostly brushy Class II. The creek often splits into braided channels, some of which dead-end into strainers. Expect a portage or two in this mess. Eventually the channels coalesce and you're treated to a long, fast ride down a narrow, brush-lined chute. Fallen trees could be a hazard anywhere here, especially at higher flows.

The creek then heads west, and the canyon walls close in. Big boulders have fallen from the cliffs and created a Class V-VI rapid. This ten-foot drop is framed by undercut rocks and always seems to collect logs in its main channel. Fortunately it is easily carried on the left. Portaging here gives one a chance to check out the first of many interesting geologic formations. The rocks in this case are a beautiful grey breccia, formed by ancient landslides or debris flows.

The main hazards in the next several miles are downed trees, and running into rocks while gazing in awe at the 1000 foot cliffs girdling the creek bed. Pine trees huddle in shady north facing pockets high above the river, and numerous small waterfalls and streams tumble into the creek. Fern grottos are common where springs seep out of the cliffs. Sunblasted south facing slopes are often adorned with yuccas and other desert vegetation, contrasting sharply with lush oaks, sycamores, and bay laurels on the opposite banks. Most of this section is easy Class III, but portages around downed trees should be expected.

About a third of the way into the run, a large rock landslide spills into the creek from river-left. This slide creates a formidable, seivy rapid that is easily portaged on the right bank.

Soon thereafter lies the best whitewater of the run, in the first of two spectacular gorges. Beautiful purplish-red conglomerate walls rise vertically, forming a classic box canyon. The difficulty level gradually increases as one eddy hops down the gorge. Soon the river bed becomes somewhat choked by truck-sized conglomerate boulders. Depending on the flow this section contains fun Class IV rapids, or, at lower water, technical rock bashing and some portages. Eventually a river-wide, 10 foot high ledge drop is encountered. At higher flows this is a mandatory portage (easiest on river right); at lower flows it has been run but doesn't appear to offer a "quality experience" to the boater.

Just downstream more Class IV leads to a big waterfall freefalling eighty feet into the river. You can paddle behind it, into a small cave carved into the cliff face.

Sulphurous fumes fill the air further down the gorge. Warm water seeps down the canyon wall on river left from a hot spring high above.

The gorge opens up as Piru Creek cuts through softer rock. Another probable portage lies in this section, around a tree-filled Class IV rapid. A short conglomerate gorge comes next, and contains a few tricky drops.

The last several miles of the creek are fun, fast Class II/III with a few holes and wave trains thrown in for kicks. As always, trees are a hazard. The poorly named Agua Blanca Creek turns Piru reddish brown about 2 1/2 miles above the reservoir.

Watch for indications of Blue Point campground on river left. A cement access road fords Piru Creek at the campground. The roadbed acts somewhat like a small weir, and at higher flows creates a perfectly linear surfing wave and spinning hole.

A two to three mile paddle down Lake Piru (depending on the lake's level) follows. The upper reaches of the lake are popular with migrating birds. On our first run we saw a flock of White Pelicans here, herding fish into the shallows. To avoid powerboat traffic and comply with local regulations, stay within 100 feet of the west shoreline, and take out at the Reasoner Launch ramp. Failure to respect this may result in a citation, and even worse might jeopardize other boaters' access to the run. Please obey the rules!

While Piru Creek is not as long nor quite as remote as the nearby Sespe Creek, it is certainly one of the finest runs in Southern California. It offers skilled boaters a spectacular wilderness experience just an hour's drive from Los Angeles. It should be on every Los Angeles boater's tick list.

Flow Notes

Pyramid Lake disrupts the natural flow into Middle Piru Creek. When Lake Piru is not full, water managers usually (but not always) match Upper Piru Creek's flow into Pyramid Lake with a similar release. The flow on Upper Piru Creek can be obtained online from CDEC's website. The USGS reports the inflow to Lake Piru.

If Lake Piru is spilling, there may be no releases at all from Pyramid Lake, and the maximum flow likely to be seen on the run will be a little less than the outflow from Lake Piru.

Numerous side creeks and dozens of waterfalls contribute to the flow throughout the run, continuously increasing the creek's volume. Therefore, if there is more than a few hundred cfs at the put in, and you're attempting the run during or immediately after a heavy rain, it might be a good idea to reconsider. The hardest rapids are 2/3 of the way down the run, where the flow will be many times the amount seen at the put in. Portaging these drops would be very difficult at high water.

It's also worth noting just how quickly the volume crashes after a storm; on our first trip we had 1100 cfs inflow to Lake Piru but in less than a week the inflow had dropped to only 300 cfs.

Piru Creek data table.

This document was last updated on Tuesday, March 06, 2001