The Scott River is one of the best one-day class IV and V whitewater trips near Oregon. The river is a tributary of the Klamath River and enters the Klamath upstream about 30 minutes driving time before reaching Happy Camp, CA. A lot of people run the Scott in conjunction with the Cal Salmon, which would make for an excellent weekend of big water.

Good first-time flows on the Scott are low to mid 1000 CFS. The river is incredibly steep, dropping at an average of 58 feet per mile, but in one particulary steep 3-mile-stretch, it drops nearly 90 feet per mile.

Most groups elect to put-in at Indian Scotty Campground, which is just downstream of class V+ Boulder Creek Falls. Immediately, the river is steep and big, with lots of solid class IV moves required (not much of a warm up).

On this run, the largest rapids you will encounter are White House, Tompkins Creek, and Schuler Gulch, all of which are considered class V. At higher water (flows above 2500 CFS), White House begins to wash out but, beware, most of everything just gets bigger and badder. The Scott is a place where it would be easy to get spanked, so make sure you've got proper equipment, but most importantly, are surrounded by competent people.