Paddling | Sevier River from Whistle Stop to Big Bend
Hype:
This stretch of the Sevier River has some amazing rapids for rafts or whitewater kayaks.
Time: 2 hours
Length: 5.2 miles
Fees: None
Recommended Ages:
 | 0-3 |
 | 4-11 |
 | 12-19 |
 | 20-49 |
 | 50-69 |
 | 70+ |
Recommended Months to Visit:
| Jan |
| Feb |
| Mar |
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Navigate to 38.518926, -112.264910.
Closest City or Region: Marysvale Canyon, Utah
Coordinates: 38.518926, -112.264910
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Laura Dye, Anthony Dye, Ondylyn Wagner,
Flow Rate: 475 cfs
We sent the most competent paddlers down first to scope out the river and see if it was appropriate for kids. It's a good thing we did too because we found out once again that our raft was not as good as advertised. This was a used raft that Anthony bought at a yard sale, and even though it seemed tough, it wasn't.
The raft must have had a small leak before we started because it was a little spongy after a few minutes. We had a really fun time and even managed to knock Mom out of the raft in one of the biggest rapids. She was so focused on holding onto her paddle that she almost lost her glasses. We floated through several more rapids going backwards while we tried to get her back into the boat. Eventually we got her back in and got the raft pulled over to the side. We were lucky enough to find the paddle (even though we had a spare). We finished the rest of the run and enjoyed it all the way down.
Mom had some huge bruises on her leg a couple days later.
After the first run, the floor had several tears in it, and we were pretty bummed.
By Jeremy Dye
Tara Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Jaren Wagner,
Flow Rate: 475 cfs
After the first run, the floor had several tears in it, and we were pretty bummed, but we decided to send a group down anyway. We figured they could stop partway down and top off the raft if they needed to. Well, it turns out that there were more holes than we first thought. The raft got really squishy, and Ari and Jaren got their knees smashed into rocks several times. Miller was also freaking out, so they ended up quitting part-way down.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Spanish Fork Utah River Stake Young Men,
Flow Rate: 405 cfs
We floated with Sevier River with Always Rafting and Kayaking. We ended up having quite a few more reservations than we had people because several people bailed, so everyone got to go two or three time if they wanted to. I went down with the first group, then I took some of the boys up Bullion Canyon and we hiked to Bullion Falls. Then we came back and rode the river again with the third group. The rapids were a lot bigger this trip than on our previous trip, and it was a lot of fun.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Jared Justensen, Amy Justensen, Shad Petersen, Chalise Petersen, Tori Turner,
Flow Rate: 447 cfs
We went with a bunch of work friends to try out this stretch of the Sevier River. None of us had ever rafted this stretch of river before, and beta is extremely hard to find. We brought the canoes, but when we got there, two guys were starting their trip in inflatable kayaks and recommended that we not take canoes down that stretch of river. They said there was a class 3+ rapid.
Since we had a bunch of little kids with us, we drove up the road and took a calm ride in the canoes from Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort to the launch. Then we switched over to the raft and went down the rest of the canyon.
Before I go any further, I should probably explain the condition of the rafts we were using. Last year, I received 2 rafts from my Aunt and Uncle. Both rafts had several patches and several large hold (gashes if you will). I spent the 2 weeks leading up to the trip patching all the holes I could find, pumping the rafts up, watching them lose air, finding the new holes, and repeating the process. Finally the night before our trip, I got the last holes patched. We got to the launch and started blowing up the rafts, and one of them wouldn't hold air at all. By this point I was all out of patches, and we didn't have enough time to let the glue set up either. So we left the one raft on shore and took turns in the remaining raft.
Jared went down on an inner tube and Shad, Tori, Tara, and Savannah took the first trip down in the raft while Amy, Chalise, and I watched the kids. I took several videos of the rafters as we followed them down the canyon. In the first set of rapids, Savannah decided she'd had enough and wanted to get off. Then in the next rapids, they rubbed against a rock and ripped off a couple patches. So Tara's job was to hold her fingers over the holes while the rest paddled. Long story short, no one know how to paddle and they just went with the current in their oh-so-flat raft. Shad even got bucked off the back.
After they finished the fun rapids, we all stopped for lunch. Then Tara dropped Amy, Chalise, and me off just above the rapids so we could do the fun rapids too. We left the pump hose in the valve and pumped air the whole time because it was losing air so quickly. We hit the Big Daddy/Rambo rapid just right, but then we got stuck in the depression and couldn't get up over the hydraulic jump. The water was pouring into our raft, and we were just sitting there completely stuck. Amy and Chalise were both scared we were going to die. Amy accidentally dropped her paddle. Chalise and I were both paddling as hard as we could but nothing worked. It felt like we were in there forever, but it was probably only one or two minutes. I though about jumping out over the hydraulic jump, but that's when I realized I had forgotten to put my life jacket on. Whoops. Eventually, we were able to dig our paddles really deap and use them like underwater sails to carry us out. It was really crazy. Luckily the paddle got stuck in an eddy and we were able to get it back. The only thing we lost was a shoe.
After that little trip, our family had to go up north. We left the gear with everyone else, and they went down the remainder of the river down to Big Bend Take-Out.
Paddling
Rivers and Streams
Mountains
Wildflowers and Vegitation
Wildlife and Birding
No Drinking Water
Road Access is Paved
Access Road is 2WD Accessible