Eagle River — 04. Forest Service Visitor Center to River Run (Dowd Chute)

A Colorado classic. This run has easy roadside access with continuous action. A shortie but a goodie. the highwater of the 2003 season shifted some rocks in the chute, changing it a bit, and also washed out the classic hole below the chute. Dowd Chute is a long gunbarrel rapid formed by the channelization of the river over time from the railroad and highways.  It starts slow and ends climatically.  Few major moves exist at mid to high water, the run is mostly adjusting angles to laterals, running or skirting the major waves on the left at the bottom, and avoiding small but thrashy holes in the runout. Levels from 0-2 feet are easy and allow eddying out nearly the entire way. The difficulty picks up between 2 and 4 feet. As levels approach 5 and over, the run washes into a very continuous flume, with the features at the bottom increasing in size. Swims are shallow and difficult to recover until the pool far downstream by the railroad trestle;the rock is sharp railroad blast rock. The entire run can be scouted or portaged using the empty railroad tracks on river right, using the small eddy by the gauge on the sewer pipe pylon.