For Guides

Molalla, OR (IV)

Description: The 9 mile Class 4+ section of the Molalla above Glen Avon is both challenging and beautiful. The river is very much driven by rainfall to be runnable, hence know the river level before you go!. The most difficult rapids Columnar Rapids, about 2 miles below the put-in, can be seen from the above the basalt cliffs.

In the past the club has tried to do this a Sunday trip, preceded by a Clackamas trip, but most years there just has not been enough water (or skilled guides available) to run it. Most boaters use the bridge gage at Feyrer Park to see if the Molalla is runnable. Best guess is that it's runnable with rafts and/or cats from 3.5' to 4.5'. The USGS does have a gauge downstream at Canby, and a rough estimate would put that at an approximate Canby flow of 1800 to 3000 CFS, but the actual correlation to the Feyrer bridge is unknown.

Directions: Allow 3 1/2 hours from Seattle I-5 to I-205 to OR-213 to OR-211 at Molalla.

The river location map for the Clackamas and Molalla (from Soggy Sneakers) is below.