Kayaking Lower Gunnison River Escalante To Bridgeport

This is the second of three videos for the lower Gunnison River. In this section from Escalante Put In to Bridgeport Take Out I will show some footage of what the run looks like and then take a minute to get into the details on some maps.
These three videos were all shot at about 2000 CFS. Keep in mind that everything changes with more or less CFS. The CFS for this run was 2200.
Please check the BLM website for any updated information, rules, regulations and flow rates. Here is the link.
www.blm.gov/pr...
Special thanks to the folks at Montrose Kayak and Surf for all their help. These folks were instrumental on sharing information about the rivers in this area. Feel free to contact then for additional information.
Here is their link. www.montrose-ka...
Have fun. Safe travel.
Music by Your Time To Soar Joachim Nilsson
The Wilderness Georg’s Town
player.epidemi...
Cameras; GoPro Hero 3+, 4 Black, Hero 6 Black and Hero 7 Black. Canon G7X, Nikon 5200, Galaxy S7 Edge, Canon 6D Mii.
Video Edit Software; Hit Film 12
Audio Software; Audacity

[@TheHighblueskies]

Your videos are great for learning about kayaking the Gunnison River. Thank you for these excellent resources!

[@danahollister4084]

Thank you. Safe travel!

[@williambell2188]

Thanks good information.

[@danahollister4084]

Thank you for watching. Safe travel.

[@jogger1987]

Thanks for posting this, my buddy and I researched this for this past summer. Due to high flows decided against it. We paddle weekly the Arkansas River through Pueblo. However, it nice to explore different water.

[@danahollister4084]

Thanks for watching. Hope this helps. Lots of fun.

[@amorton94]

I've looked at floating the Arkansas in Pueblo. How is it? Where do you put in/take out?

[@jogger1987]

@@amorton94 Normally padling the 8 miles from below Lake Pueblo Dam to the Pueblo kayak park is great. This year the flows have stayed so low it hasn't been floatable. It's the first time in 8 years that we haven't kayaked it yet. Hopefully by May that will change. We put in at the boat launch located below Lake Pueblo Dam on Cottonwood Rd. To access Cottonwood Rd take Juniper Road which runs you through the state park in both directions north and south. It's the main park road as you get closer to the southside side of the park you'll see the tailwater below the dam. Right at that point is Cottonwood Rd it's a left coming from the north, and right if you were coming from the south. About 4 miles in is LOW HEAD DAM, YOU MUST PORTAGE!!! There are signs you pull out left onto the Arkansas River bike path and walk around a quarter mile and drop back in. You can take that all the way to the kayak park that has an easy take out on the right before you go through the rapids. Right now there is some renovation going on at the kayak park so the road to the parking lot is closed. You can still get out there if you don't mind a slight hike up form the river. Normally you can park right next to the river to take out. There's also the Pueblo Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center that's inbetween Lake Pueblo and the kayak park that offers a ramp to take out or put in. If you drop in at Lake Pueblo and go the nature center it's 3.5 miles.

[@jogger1987]

@@amorton94 There's also a 6 mile stretch of the Arkansas from Pathfinder PArk in Florence to the Florence River PArk that's kayakable right now. Since Pueblo is so low we did that paddle a few weeks ago. You can paddle from Canon to Florence as well for 11 miles, but have two portages due to agriculture dams. From the Florence River Park to Pueblo that's a 22 mile float. You can take out at Swallows Road which is the mouth of the Arkansas becoming Lake Pueblo.The Florence sections have STRAINERS just FYI it's more natural.

[@amorton94]

@@jogger1987 Wow! That's quite a bit of info there. Thank you! I've always wanted to float into Pueblo Res. Looks like the only way would be from Florence. It seems like this is something you do pretty regularly. What kind of kayaks do you use? I have a pretty big fishing kayak and haven't ever floated moving water with it. Are any of these good for a newbie?

[@sherryb9770]

I didn’t hear you mention this but the recommended minimum flow for all sections, Delta to Whitewater is 1800 cfs. I think it was about 2000 when Andy and I did our overnighter.
Mom is really enjoying the virtual kayaking. Her eyes are so big! 😳 I told her I did that trip too. She likes that correlation.

[@danahollister4084]

Give mom a hug! I think you are about right. 1500 was fun but slow.

[@G42-r6v]

COOL🤩

[@danahollister4084]

Thanks.

[@loganwagner7430]

What was the air pump setup that you hooked to the car battery? Thanks for the video!

[@danahollister4084]

Just got in. Sorry for the late reply. There are several pumps that hook up to a car battery. We got ours at the Montrose Kayak and Surf store. It's a quick way to inflate any boat.

[@scottlawshe2831]

How long does it take to float from Escalante to Bridgeport with an average flow of 2000cfs?

[@danahollister4084]

It's a half day trip. maybe 5 hours or so depending on how long you stop to look around, have lunch. Fun run.

[@scottlawshe2831]

@@danahollister4084 is that roughly the same for each of the three sections of the Gunnison? At the 2000cfs flow rate.

[@danahollister4084]

@@scottlawshe2831 Yes pretty close.