River Report: Cooper River

Fun, Fun, Fun… if I were asked to summarize the Cooper River in three words that would be my response. The Cooper has become a staff favorite among the Wildwater crew because it has something to offer to intermediate and advanced paddlers alike. The run is a great intermediate creek that offers incredible scenery dominated by the lush forest growing up the steep canyon walls. Only two hours outside of Seattle, the Cooper offers more experienced intermediate paddlers a chance to hone in their skills to step up their creeking game.

Guide Andy Lockey taking in the beauty of the Cooper

        The Coop is class IV+ in nature. The run is committing since it’s in a relatively deep gorge. I haven’t had to make the hike out, but I’m positive it would be quite a task getting out with a heavy piece of plastic in tow. You definitely want to make sure you have some creeking experience before running the Cooper. If you are from the Seattle area, the “Fall in the Wall” section of the South Fork of the Snoqualmie would be a good gauge of whether you are ready for the Coop or not.

        The put-in at the base of a dramatic waterfall sets the scene for the beauty of the Cooper. The run starts off immediately with some boogie water down to the first slide of the run. Currently there is a large river wide tree that crosses the river at the top of the slide so make sure to be far right to duck the tree. After the slide the river constricts over the first five-foot ledge and starts to pick up. The majority of the run has constant class III/III+ water with class IV/IV+ ledges. The most notable ledges are “Norm’s Resort”, which has a nasty hole, “Super Boof”, and “Butt Buster.” Everything up to “S-Turn” is run on the right, which makes it easy to remember where you want to be. After a short section of slack water the horizon line for “S-Turn” appears. This rapid is best scouted from the left, be wary of the rocks as you scout because they are much more slippery than they appear.

Andy preparing for liftoff at "Super Boof"

        After “S-Bend” the next rapid is “Little Voodoo’, a rapid that is best described as light class IV boogie. After the final set of holes “Little Voodoo” ends in the pool above “Sharks Tooth”, one of the more technical rapids on the stretch. This rapid is easy to break up with plenty of eddies to boat scout from on river right. My favorite line here is to boof into the rapid off the left side of the center rock, and then charge the remainder of the drop. This line is shown off by kayak instructor/river manager Lance Reif in the video. After “Sharks Tooth” there’s some more III- boogie until you get to the top of “Wall of Voodoo.”

Guide David Gorski entering "S-Turn"

You can scout “Wall of Voodoo” easily as you set shuttle by hiking up the trail at the take out. The undercut on the right hand wall can be intimidating upon first glance but it does flush since it is more overhung than it is undercut. The traditional line is to eddy hop down to the eddy above the crux on river left. From the eddy it is easy to peel out, set your angle, and wait to make your move. “Wall of Voodoo” finishes in a deep pool that makes any potential cleanup easy. The takeout is on the left right after the large pool.

Guide Brian Raftry coming through "Wall of Voodoo"

If you are close to Seattle this would be a excellent river for you and your crew. The Coop does stay in through the summer but is best early in the summer when everything is padded out. The character of the run is clean drops, clean water, and incredible scenery. I would recommend this run to anyone looking to progress as a creek boater, or to any advanced boater who just wants to have a relaxed day lapping a great stretch of river with friends. Check out this video that was shot and edited by the guides here at Wildwater.