  THE GUADALUPE RIVER A Paddlers Perspective So you want to know what it is like to canoe the Guadalupe? Well you have come to the right place! If you just want to see a canoe-eye glimpse of the river then proceed to the picture gallery. If you are looking to paddle it yourself, then you will definitely want to read the advice on paddling the guad before attempting it. Perhaps you are just trying to find the Guadalupe! If that's the case then follow the link to the maps. There is also a section on fun facts about the river (did you know that salmon spawn in the Guadalupe?!) and a section that includes what the western waters canoe club has done/ is doing to protect and open this body of water to canoeing. Pictures Paddling advice (don't even think about it until you read this!) Maps Facts Current projects involving the Guadalupe Western Water Canoe Club involvement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICTURES Yes people! Believe it or not all of these pictures are from a single run one afternoon down the Guadalupe! You got your flat water riparian corridor, you got some nice moving water (which was not only surfable in one spot but managed to dump two people into the drink!), you got your flat water tidal marsh and you got your basic subterranean, spelunktitous, oh-my-god-where-the-heck-are-we, underground canoeing water (don't try this at home kids- we are highly trained professionals!) Not a bad variety considering the whole river is pretty much smack in the middle of downtown San Jose! There are more pics on a very cool interactive map at BASIC.ORG. Be sure to look at them too! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PADDLING ADVICE First of all, DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. This is a small but deceptively dangerous river (except during flood stage when it is a large and obviously dangerous river). There are spots that are difficult to maneuver that can tip you over and dump you into a strainer faster than you can think and there is always plenty of water to drown in. Debris jams that totally block the river are somewhat common and can be difficult to circumnavigate. There are a few areas with nasty rebar sticking up like skewers (thanks to the Army Corp of Engineers flood control project). Also, if you don't time your run just right you can find yourself stuck in the mud in Alviso with no way out. The tide needs to be around 2 feet in order to make it to the dock (assuming you know where the dock is). One last warning- there are discharge chutes that are along the banks in several spots which are used to pump out water that collects in the basements of places like San Jose's airport terminal A. When the pumps kick in there is minimal warning and they move enough water to raise the river level by as much as 6 inches! That is a LOT of water. Think about it. Before I make this whole river paddling thing sound too dismal, I will make a simple suggestion that will eliminate nearly all of the above problems; GO WITH SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE RIVER. Not only is it WAY safer, it will be a lot more fun. The other person should, of course, know what they are doing and preferably have run the river before. Contact the Western Water Canoe Club if you want to run it! We are always looking for a good excuse to paddle. Who knows? Maybe you will even want to join the club! That said, here is a useful link to a tide predictor that you can use to time your run perfectly! TIDE PREDICTOR I have found it to be accurate enough using the settings for the Dumbarton bridge +15 to 30 minutes. Also be sure to try out the graphical chart. It's very cool! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAPS Courtesy of MAPQUEST and BASIC.ORG If this didn't get you to where you wanted to be, try one of these links: Basic.Org MapQuest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RIVER FACTS The Guadalupe River starts out it's life as Guadalupe Creek. This creek travels a short distance before it joins with Rincon Creek and Los Capitancillos Creek which then feed into Guadalupe Reservoir. From there it continues, meeting with Pheasant Creek before emptying into Almaden Lake along with Alamitos Creek. Lake Almaden is where the Guadalupe Creek officially becomes the Guadalupe River. Downstream of the Almaden dam the Guadalupe River joins with one last creek- Ross Creek- and flows from there down through the City of San Jose, past Alviso and into the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay. The Guadalupe river is home to a wide diversity of wildlife including salmon, steelhead, carp, red-tailed hawks, muskrat, many types of waterfowl, amphibians and canoers (who are often amphibious themselves). The flow rate of the Guadalupe ranges between 0 (when the dam shuts off) and 14,000 cfs (full flood conditions) From its headwaters at the Guadalupe Creek to its final destination at the southern tip of the San Francisco bay, it is approximately 20 miles long. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CURRENT PROJECTS INVOLVING THE GUADALUPE There are a ton of projects currently under way that involve the Guadalupe River in some way. Click the list for more detailed information. Army Corp of Engineers in conjunction with the City of San Jose flood abatement project San Jose Tech Museum May 15, 1999 river clean up day (be there!!!!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTERN WATERS CANOE CLUB The Western Waters Canoe Club (WWCC) activities on the Guadalupe river are primarily a result of Larry Johmann's extensive involvement in protecting and opening the river to the public over the last several years. He has worked with county governments, the state and many other organizations to ensure that the condition of the Guadalupe River improves with time rather than continuing a long history of falling further and further into decline. To that end the WWCC has adopted a section of the river and agreed to maintain it. Incidentally, Larry is a member of the WWCC and has more paddling experience on the Guadalupe than any other person that you are ever likely to meet! THANKS LARRY! If you have the urge to run this river, contact someone in the club- we would love to go paddling with you! |