The White Salmon River
The Farmlands
This is an upper section of the White Salmon that cuts a narrow gorge through the farmlands below Mount Adams. The rapids are mostly Class IV with a few easy V's and a 12 foot waterfall.
To get there, take Highway 141 towards Trout Lake. The take out is the
famous Green Truss, so you'll want to leave your take out rig there.
Keep going North on 141 and take a right on Warner Road and drive about
a mile until you cross a river/creek looking thing. Be nice to the locals
and use your creativity to put in on it.
You'll start of with some fun rapids and quickly notice you're in a steep walled gorge. Even though a road follows most of the run, it would be tough to scramble up to it. The rapids are definitely steep and fun, but several of them have some junky features that will require you to be on your toes and portage a couple of times.
The best part is the beautiful gorge and fun rapids around Lava Falls.
There are tons of fun and clean drops in this section of river. Lava
Falls is a straightforward 12 foot(?) drop with a nasty hole at the bottom.
We heard stories of people getting caught behind the falls and portages
as we watched several kayaks and one raft run the drop beautifully.
The run ends with a few miles of boogie water and a heinous take out. We used pulleys and a truck to pull our rafts onto the Green Truss, but if you're skilled, I'd recommend paddling the Green Truss section to avoid this.
This was an immensely fun run and I can't wait to go back.