Ready, set, float! Slam into stacks of frothy water bordered by towering forests of Douglas fir. Several Class IV rapids provide some hair-raising whitewater adventurers along the South Fork of this free-flowing river. Rapids aside, the Eel offers a wonderful meander through old-growth forests that erases all sense of time. More than 100 species of wildlife make their home among a virgin Douglas fir forest and hundreds of flowering plants in the nearby Northern California North Coast Preserve.

When to go:

Winter-spring.

Getting there:

Hwy. 101 N. of Garberville.

Put-in:

Along Hwy. 101

Take-out:

Along Hwy. 101

River Class:

IV

Local BLM Office:

Arcata Resource Area P.O. Box 1112
1125 16th St.
Arcata, CA 95521