Whitewater Rafting – Floats – Boating – Paddling

One way to see our beautiful scenery is take a rafting trip.  See the mountains and remote lands as only you can see them by the river.  Springtime through mid summer while snow-melt is plentiful, the rivers run high with whitewater, as snow-melt begins to dwindle, the rivers lower in volume and slow down making it time for relaxing float trips taking in the surrounding scenery and wildlife viewing.  As fall nears and the salmon begin to spawn the eagles will come to feed roosting in the trees keeping a sharp eye on the rivers below.

Darrington has five surrounding rivers, the North Fork Stillaguamish, Boulder, Sauk, White Chuck and Suiattle.  The Sauk River flows 45 miles starting in the high mountains forming the South Fork and the North Fork.  As this wild river flows north on its way to the Skagit River it picks up a major tributary, the White Chuck River bringing down the icy waters from the glaciers of Glacier Peak over 22 miles away.  As the Sauk River flows north passing the logging town of Darrington, it will again pick up a major tributary, the long mountainous Suiattle River flowing about 45 miles clear over to the southern slopes of Glacier Peak.  The headwaters begin at Suiattle Glacier, as summer warms up the Chocolate and Milk Glaciers will melt adding their murky waters and volume to the river.

The North Fork Stillaguamish River flows to the west near Darrington getting it’s headwaters from North Mountain at an elevation of only about 2,500 feet, headwaters starting from spring fed tributaries.  As it flows nearly 50 miles to Port Susan and the Puget Sound it will pick up the large tributaries of Squire Creek, Boulder River and Deer Creek more than doubling the river in volume.  By late summer – early fall this river reduces greatly, sometimes flowing to a bare trickle.

River flow and conditions varies greatly from heavy rain runoff, spring snow-melt, warm summer days melting off the higher glaciers and cold winter days freezing tributaries lowering the waters.  The best source for watching river flow and other hazards is the American Whitewater links for:

Darrington Area Whitewater Outfitters

Whitewater Rafting Outfitters

Enjoy paddling around Darrington from whitewater rapids to exploring a woodland pond, there something everyone can enjoy!

Some surrounding creeks which have been paddled are Finney Creek, Illabot Creek and Sloan Creek.  There is not to much information on the adventures:

Some surrounding ponds around Darrington:

See the map for approximate Launch locations: