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Action on the West Fork of the Montreal River starts at Gile Falls (above left) where a footbridge crosses the stream (seen in the background, with mining tailings 'mountain' in the distance). The main drop (seen in the left photo) tends to be a sticky pourover which can cartwheel even old-style long boats tight to river-right, while a good river-left 'sneak' presents itself at good boatable levels (as shown in the photo).
Just downstream of the falls, the river meets a wall of rock and is diverted sharply left through a sweet little dells (above right). |
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| After Gile Falls you'll encounter a long uninteresting stretch of river until reaching Rock Cut Falls. The river is constricted between banks of large boulders, and pours through a series of offset holes, the first of which is shown above left. |
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| Seen from the former railroad trestle/bridge, Rock Cut Falls is a great, long stretch of waves and holes. The photos show the view upstream (above left) and down (above right). The action is quite continuous (class III-IV), save for a brief breather right under the bridge. |
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Some distance downstream, one of the few areas of some concern is a river-wide ledge/hole (shown above left). A river-right sneak is available to run this, and the rapids which follow.
The final major action on this run occurs as the river enters a small county park. A sweet series of short ledges and waves accelerate the flow toward Kimball Falls (above right). As seen from a one-lane bridge which crosses the river into the park, wrapping diagonal waves (over shallow jutting bedrock) precede a large V-shaped hole at the pool below. Boaters can either take out here or proceed an additional mile to culverts at Hwy.2. The remaining action is fun class II-II+, and finishes with a small wave inside the downstream end of the highway culvert. |
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| A run on the Montreal Canyon begins with a steep descent down a long flight of metal stairs (shown above left). At the put-in, the impressive sight of Saxon Falls awaits the boater. At low flows, only the river-right falls will have significant water. At moderate flows, the river-left falls kicks in. At higher flows, a narrow center falls (center frame, above right) pours between two towers of rock for a most spectacular sight. |
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| This is one of the Midwest's best scenic play rivers, when you can catch it with good water (minimum about 700cfs, better at 1400-1700cfs). Flanked on alternating sides of the river by tall conglomerate cliffs, the river spills across numerous short ledges to form a great series of waves and holes. |