The Slab Creek run is only for boaters with strong class IV+ boating skills. When running this section you should always boat with other class IV+ boaters. Remember safety first and boat within your skill set.
Limited release dates for 2019: April 13-14th, April 27-28th and May 4-5th. Cost is $15.00 per person
The Coloma Shuttle will be offering shuttle service from the take out at Rock Creek going to Slab Creek put in at 8:00am & 10:00am. Advanced reservations are highly recommended. To put the shuttle on the road for this run we need a minimum of 6 riders to pre-book by 5pm the night before.
The Slab Creek reach begins with several class IV+ rapids that are within sight of the put-in. The river has a very continuous nature for the next four miles. Many of the rapids are long and require good class IV skills. Mosquito Road Bridge at river mile 3.6 provides alternate access options. The most significant rapid on the run, Class V Motherlode Falls, occurs shortly after the bridge.
The gradient eases after this point and the run becomes class II/III in nature. There also is more vegetation, primarily Alders, in the river channel in the lower section. Rock Creek enters on river right at river mile 6.5. The Rock Creek Power House could provide a potential put-in providing access to the class II/III section when SMUD completes a future downstream take-out.
Put in: Limited Parking From Highway 50 in Placerville, take the Schnell School road exit and go north to Carson Rd. till N. Canyon road. Follow N. Canyon Road to Slab Creek Reservoir road and follow that to the Slab Creek dam. Dirt roads lead to the river a short ways below the dam.
Take out: Limited Parking In the interim of a new Slab Creek Take-Out to be constructed by SMUD, the Rock Creek Powerhouse located on the north side of the river at mile 6.5 will be the public take-out. From Highway 193 in Placerville go east 6 miles on Rock Creek Road. The entrance to the powerhouse will be the second road on the right after you cross over Rock Creek – the big white bridge. The gate will be open during scheduled recreational releases by SMUD and limited parking is available by the powerhouse. The gate will be closed all other times but public access to the river is still allowed. BLM has made special arrangements for parking during recreational releases and we ask all boaters to respect the resource or it can be closed to our parking use. Please DO NOT BLOCK THE GATE.