Whitewater Parks for the River Surfer

Here's your list of whitewater parks across the U.S. that are known to be good for river surfing. If we've missed a park please feel free to let us know in the comments below and we'd be happy to add it. Keep in mind that just because these parks are man-made it does not necessarily mean they are safe. Always wear a lifejacket and helmet when recreating in the river.

Colorado

Glenwood Springs (Colorado River) Location: 2302 Midland Ave, Glenwood Springs, CO Webcam: https://www.coloradowebcam.net/webcam-locations/gws-kayak-park-webcam Details: Great for both shortboard and SUP. Is best at 10,000 CFS and up. It is a river wide feature with surfable waves on both the river right and river left side.

Eagle (Eagle River Whitewater Park) Location: 200 Fairgrounds Rd, Eagle, CO 81631 Details: They've just finished phase II of this park and it will officially open Memorial day weekend of 2019. No details yet!

Denver (North Platte River) Location: River Run Park 2101 W Oxford Ave, Sheridan, CO 80110 Gauge: South Platte Below Union Details: One adjustable feature best for shortboards and one static feature great for beginners and stand up paddle boards. New features are being put in as we speak!

Pueblo (Arkansas River) Location: Latitude: 38.26684492803721 Longitude: -104.62262304680479 Gauge: Arkansas at Moffat Street gauge Details: Best flows at 600–800 cfs and above. Great for both SUP and shortboards.

Florence (Arkansas River) Location: 121 Co Rd 119, Florence, CO 81226 Gauge: Portland Colorado Details: 450+ CFS and great for high volume shortboards and SUP.

Montrose (Uncompahgre River) Location: 210 Apollo Rd, Montrose, CO 81401 Details: Between the six features there is always something to surf, even at very low levels. There are many drainages for irrigation below the closest gauge so the reading on USGS is not usually correct. Visit this site for estimated flows provided by the city.

Gunnison (Gunnison River) Location: Corner of Hwy 50 and Co Rd 38 Gauge: Gunnison near Gunnison Details: 600 CFS is when you can start surfing it on a high volume SUP. But 1,000+ CFS is when it starts getting good...the higher the better.

Golden (Clear Creek) Location: 1201 10th St, Golden, CO 80401 Gauge: Clear Creek at Golden Details: Best flows 500-1,000+. Surfable on high volume shortboards and SUPS.

Buena Vista (Arkansas River) Location: 922 South Main Street Gauge: Arkansas River Below Granite gauge Details: Best surf feature is the Staircase wave. It's 1/4 mile downstream of the first feature Uptown wave located near the Community Center. Best flows are from 300-2,000CFS.

Salida (Arkansas River) Location: River Side Park Gauge: Nathrop gauge Details: The best feature for surfing in this park is the Scout Wave which is the last feature in the park. 500+ cfs it will start to become surfable but starts to become fun at 1,000+.

Durango (Animas River) Location: Santa Rita Park 149 S Camino Del Rio Gauge: Animas at Durango Details: Just about every feature in this park is surfable at different flows. 500 CFS and up something will be surfable, over 1,000 is when you'll start seeing more shortboards out there.

Pagosa Springs (San Juan River) Location: 350 Pagosa St Details: There is not a lot of details out there on this park. We'd say, if you're passing through it's worth stopping and scoping it out.

Idaho

Boise (Boise River) Location: 607 N Whitewater Park Blvd Webcam & Gauge: https://www.boisewhitewaterpark.com/waveshaper-cam Details: This is an adjustable feature. They alternate between a kayak hole and a surf wave. Click here for the schedule.

Cascade (Payette River) Location: Kelly's Whitewater Park Webcam: http://www.kellyswhitewaterpark.com/webcam.html Guage: North Fork of the Payette at Cascade Details: Best flows are 2,000+ but if you're not picky and have a high volume board there are always little ankle biters to surf.

Nevada

Reno (Truckee River) Location: Wingfield Park, 2 S Arlington Ave. Gauge: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/4137/ Details: At 300 CFS you'll get little ankle biter waves, great for beginners. From 2,000+ you'll get some waist high surf!

Oregon

Bend (Deschutes River) Location: 166 SW Shevlin Hixon Dr Webcam: http://eyeonbend.wixsite.com/eobcams/copy-of-old-mill-2 Gauge: https://www.bendparksandrec.org/facility/bend-whitewater-park/ Details: This feature is an adjustable feature and is always catered to the river surfer. Flow range is from 200-1,000+.

Texas

San Marcos (San Marcos River) Location: Rio Vista Whitewater Park 555 Cheatham St Gauge: San Marcos Rv at San Marcos, TX (Flow range 100-400) Details: This is a park designed for lower flows, you will have the most success on higher volume boards.

Montana

Missoula (Clark Fork River) Location: Brennan's Wave Milwaukee Trail, Caras Park Gauge: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/5044/ Details: There's something to surf from 900+ CFS but the best is 6,000 and up!

Georgia

Columbus (Chattahoochee River) Location: 1000 Bay Ave Gauge: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/3659/ Details: Great for most boards from 9k-12,000+ CFS.

Iowa

Charles City (Cedar River) Location: 106 Chapel Ln Gauge: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ia/nwis/uv?site_no=05457700 Details: 700-9000cfs+ this wave is best with high volume surf boards.

Pennsylvania

Johnstown (Stonycreek River) Location: Green House Rd Details: Small waves but a great beginner spot for stand up paddling.

Ohio

Dayton (Miami River) Location: Eastwood Park, RiverScape Park, BuckCreek Details: There are three parks throughout Dayton. Visit the links above for the details on each one. *Endlesswaves.net and Riverbreak are great resources for more detailed descriptions of waves around the world.