The Washougal River in Southern Washington provides an excellent rafting experience. There are a few different sections of the Washougal River that are raftable. In this description, I am only going to talk about the most comonly rafted section of the Washougal River, which is called the Big Eddy Section. Other sections of the Washougal River are:
• Prospector's Creek to Doc's Drop ("The Upper Upper")
• Doc's Drop to Dougan Falls ("The Falls Section")
• Dougan Falls to Salmon Falls ("The Gorge")
• North Fork Washougal
• Little Washougal
The Big Eddy Section of the Washougal River is a 7.3 mile winter or spring run that drops an average of 35 feet per mile. The put-in for this run is at a fishing access point off of Sportsman Road (which is off of Highway 140). The take-out is at another fishing access point just 3.2 miles north of the town of Washougal up Highway 140.
The majority of the Big Eddy Section is class III but there is a one class IVish rapid called Big Eddy. At high flows, this rapid reportly has waves that rival Grand Canyon waves. Big Eddy rapid is approximately 2.5 miles downstream of the put-in and is the first sizable rapid you will run. Throughout this section, be especially wary of wood. Due to the wide fluctuation of flows, wood is prone to flush with the high flows. You never know where it will end up, so just be on the look out.
Along this section of the Washougal River, the highway follows the river curve for curve. During your shuttle drive, you can catch a glimpse of Big Eddy Rapid.
