Packrafting Wooley Creek: Wilderness Whitewater in California's Marble Mountains.

Why Wooley?: Wooley Creek is one of many incredible whitewater sections within Northern California's Salmon River watershed. Set in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, Wooley Creek's crystalline waters cut through a series of granite gorges packed with steep boulder gardens and ledges. These lower gorges have long been a popular section for kayakers willing to shoulder their boats for 6 miles in exchange for stunning scenery and quality whitewater. More runnable river lies upstream of the standard put-in, and packrafters looking to add a night of camping and some more paddling to the classic section will enjoy extending their trip.

ROUTE OVERVIEW:

Difficulty: Wooley Creek gets a class IV-V rating from American Whitewater. At the lower to medium flows, Wooley is a class IV-IV+ run. It is full of technical boulder gardens and ledges throughout, but most have plentiful eddies that allow many of the longer rapids to be picked apart and boat scouted by advanced paddlers. As flows increase, so do the holes, and the canyon takes on a class V character with rapids flowing together, eliminating recovery pools and making confident boat scouting essential. While the trail does not appear to be far away, it rarely returns to river level, and hiking out is not a realistic option for much of the run. Class V paddlers will enjoy this run at a variety of flows, while solid class IV paddlers will want to paddle Wooley at low to medium flows for their first time down.

Water levels: While Wooley Creek doesn't have a gauge, the Salmon River Gauge at Somes Bar is used for a rough correlation. The New School Guidebook to Northern California Whitewater suggests looking for a flow of 3.5' to 5'. For our first time on Wooley, 3.5' (1,500cfs) felt like a friendly packraft flow. Here is a video of kayakers demonstrating that Wooley is still possible below recommended levels, as well as a video of packrafters that highlights the pushy character of this run at higher flows.

The dashed line shows the water level at the time of our launch.

The Hike:

The Wooley Creek Trail parallels the creek for the entirety of its length. While Wooley is most commonly done as a day trip, there is more runnable river upstream for those wishing to extend their trip. We enjoyed hiking above the standard put-in and camping for one night to see more of the Marble Mountain Wilderness. It's worth highlighting that the area is known for its robust populations of both ticks and poison oak, both of which we saw plenty! Given the trail primarily contours high above the river, it doesn't offer many opportunities to scout, but it does drop to the river at a few key access points:

1. 2.75 miles from the trailhead- This is the first spot to access the river and offers the minimum amount of hiking to access the final gorge of Wooley Creek. Unless you only have a half day, there is no reason not to continue to the classic put-in for more of the same quality whitewater and scenery.

2. 6.25 miles from the trailhead- This is the classic put-in site and offers the best access for those planning to do Wooley as a day trip. This put-in is near Wooley Camp, a private inholding within the National Forest. Take the spur trail towards the camp, but find a way down to the river before crossing the gate to avoid trespassing. Putting in here offers a short warm-up before the start of the 1st gorge.

3. 9 miles from the trailhead- The trail nears the river once more near the Fowler Cabin (public) after crossing Bridge Creek. Bridge Creek's contribution to the flow makes this "middle" section of Wooley enjoyable to paddle, even at the lower levels. Beyond this point, the trail deteriorates with lots of deadfall to hurdle and a maze of poison oak. While the tread is still discernible, unless this section gets cleared, expect slow travel if you hope to continue to the North Fork confluence. The uppermost reach of Wooley definitely needs more water than we had. Given the low levels and almost certain poison oak rash that the remaining hike would entail, we opted to abandon our goal and camp around mile 10.25, not far beyond the confluence of Canyon Creek.

4. 14 miles from the trailhead- While I'm not sure the last time the river was paddled from the North Fork confluence, here's an old trip report that includes a few photos from the "upper" section of Wooley. Launching near Bear Skull Creek reportedly adds more class III and one class V rapid.

The River:

"Middle Wooley":

From a mile above Bridge Creek to Wooley Camp, the Wooley offers a nice section of class II-III+ river running. The river never gorges up and all of the rapids are easily boat scoutable. We found it to be a fun warm-up before dropping into the classic gorge run.

"Classic Wooley":

From Wooley Camp, there is a little over a mile of continued warm-up before the class IV begins. The start of the gorge is marked by a rapid that funnels through a bedrock constriction before stair-stepping down a sequence of ledges. This rapid is indicative of what to expect, and from here to Steinaker Creek, Wooley serves up a continuous helping of class IV-IV+ bouldergardens and ledges. For those interested in names and locations, the American Whitewater description highlights a few of the named drops. What is listed as "Long Rapid" stood out as the most significant drop of the run. While most rapids offer opportunities for shore-based scouting or portaging, there are a handful of spots where vertical walls eliminate the option for river-level portaging. River-wide wood in the final gorge mandated a creative portage in the spring of 2026. The whitewater tapers off near the confluence of Steinaker Creek, a scenic stop on the river, with a runnable 25-footer for those looking for some extracurricular falling when flows are up. Just downstream, a bridge spanning the Salmon River frames the confluence with Wooley. It's a half mile from here to the takeout at Brannon Bar.

LOGISTICS:

Trailhead/Takeout: The run begins at the Wooley Creek trailhead, where there is a pit toilet and parking. The run ends at Brannon Bar River Access on the Salmon River, just across the highway.

Local Camping: There are a variety of car camping options near Wooley. The Nordheimer campground is the closest designated site and offers a "flow phone" that allows you to call in for current river levels.

Nearby Paddling: The Salmon River watershed has a plethora of whitewater paddling. If you have time on either end of your trip, it's worth checking out some of the many road-accessible offerings: