# San Francisco river Gila area.



## gjdoug (Jun 5, 2011)

kelly cranston said:


> Due to the high number of strainers I would make the following suggestions if anyone is going to try this. 80 to 100 cfs is safest. over that and you might not be able to stop before you hit a strainer and the water will be deep and very pushy. 2 years ago there were 13 full strainers many around the innumerable blind turns. most of the strainers are above the confluence with the Blue. If you can't get out of your boat and grab the bank in 5 seconds or less, don't go. Also I would recommend only iks and sit on tops not over 11" due to the turns. Some of the strainers you can cut through with a high quality folding saw for narrow boats. anything wider and you will be portaging forever. Ik puncture hazard so have a good patch kit. A whistle is a must, I keep mine in my mouth for any upcoming blind turns. This is a good snow year so a good float should be available for march and possibly into april. I am hoping to go again this year. Any questions, let me know. be safe.


How long is the SF River, where can you put in and take-out? Is there any/much beta about it?


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## kelly cranston (Mar 27, 2011)

The general consensus is that the canyon is 42 miles from below glenwood to above clifton az, but with all the twists and turns i would say over 50. I like to take 5 days. unless you are young and strong if you push too hard you can make mistakes. The put-in is on the forest service road south of glenwood and pleasonton nm on the way to sundial hotspring. You put in where the big wash S. Dugway crosses the road about 100 yards from the river. or you can call shelley at sundial springs and if she is in the mood to do a shuttle for you to clifton you can put in on her property, much better. if you put in at s. dugway, when you reach the first big riffle about 300 yards down, go left and line the corner, don't go straight the river goes under a 15' pile of trees. The take out is upstream of clifton az. go to the end of the road to where it meets the river. or you can add 2 or 3 days and go on to above safford. there are a few more hazards that way, a pvc pipe fence, twice across the river above clifton, and a pipe all the way across the river below clifton. Also on the frisco about 3 miles above the blue confluence there is a low diversion dam, you will notice the slow water. line it on the right side.


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