# San Miguel access and camping



## go-with-the-Flo (Aug 6, 2006)

Hi I would like to do the San Miguel from Fall Creek Rd to Norwood (overnight). Is there a real put-in at Fall Creek Rd? And is there some camping near the Fall Creek Rd put-in? If not, what would be a good spot to camp at the night before we put-in?
Thank you


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## dpwater (Aug 2, 2011)

Caddis flats or specie Creek. Upper or lower Beaver. Limited options. Deep Creek legal put in. Not at fall Creek. Private property. It's stout at 1400. Did July 4.


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## Treswright3 (May 20, 2013)

Can you please give any more details about put in/take out locations. I keep reading about various places (like fall creek) but don't seem to see what looks like a put in from google earth. Also, is there any shuttle companies? And what's the best section to run as a day float this weekend (13ft oar rig)? Thanks


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## rtsideup (Mar 29, 2009)

From top to bottom:

Bilk Creek- Kayak put-in, you could maybe get a small raft down.
Deep Creek- 1/2mi. below Bilk behind CDOT maint. shed, trailer accessible.
Silverpick- 3ish mi. further down. Not sure about this. It's not commonly used.

These upper put-ins mean that you're running Sawpit rapid. 700cfs is my cut off for this in a raft.

Down Vally Park- Above Placerville, below Fall creek. Trailer accessible. Not much of an eddy.
Placerville- Trailer accessible, no eddy, gravel bar.

From Placerville to Specie the river becomes braided and shallow. Lots of wood but, passable IF you choose the proper channel.

Caddis Flats- Trailer accessible. Most developed of the put-ins. Limited camping.
Specie- 1mi. below Caddis, Trailer accessible.
Upper Beaver- Trailer accessible, easy take out to miss. Good thing that there is...
Lower Beaver- 1/4 mi. below UB, trailer accessible.

Below LB is the Norwood canyon. The river and road part ways. This is a trecherous section, not for the faint of heart (search Wayward Boatman).

The next take out is Ledges Recreation area, Trailer accessible. It's 3+hrs. from the Beavers.
Pinion Bridge is 2mi. below that and is your final take-out. Don't go past it. It's a steep, short carry to your trailer.

Caddis or Specie to Beaver is the go-to 1/2 day run. 1.5hrs.
Upper is pretty spicy class 2/3 with a class 4 swim.
Norwood canyon is more mellow but has big fun surf waves in the Ledges area (mostly below Ledges take-out).

Have fun!


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## Treswright3 (May 20, 2013)

Really can’t thank you enough. Thanks for taking the time to share that info, I’ll tell you there isn’t much info that I could find. I’ll be running Saturday.


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