Willow Canyon: Late Season Play

The Lower Willow River is the staple whitewater run for Prince George paddlers. When levels are right, it has a couple great little playspots: Surf City and Diamond Wave. Both have good eddy service and trails right to them for easy park n' play. Depending on the level, these playspots are a whole lot of fun.

Above is a picture of Hardy on Freak My Beak , one of the last rapids on the Lower Willow. You can see the river gauge on the cliff wall behind him. This gauge is available at Environment Canada, for the Willow River (at Hay Creek) that can be checked here: online gauge. Prime for the online gauge is between a 3.55 meters to 3.9 meters. Keep in mind that a 5 cm change at Hay Creek translates to roughly double in the Canyon. At prime levels the Lower Willow is grade II except for the Beak which is grade III.

Diamond Wave and Surf City are the classic playspots in the PG area. While not comparable to some of the big waves in our region like Dogdish on the Kalum, the Lower Quesnel put-in wave, Mo-Town on the Bulkley, or god forbid Tatlow Falls, these can serve up some nice fun rides.
With winter fast approaching, any day now our rivers will be frozen and that'll be a wrap for another year of boating in Prince George. Here's to next year, and be sure to stay tuned to the forum for news and upcoming Brigade events. Before I go, there's one more thing.... it's supposed to be + 7 this Thursday. Maybe see you out on Diamond Wave!