Quesnel river

[Danny]

Has anyone here ever drift the Quesnel river. From most pictures if seen it seems to be mostly flat . I'm sure there must be some bad spot some where ?
Any info would be great
Thanks

[Drillbit]

From where to where are you thinking?

They raft it all the time and it's jet boatable.

[kitnayakwa77]

Some big rapids in the Quesnel Canyon. More rapids by the Cariboo River confluence. Google Earth is your friend.

[archerylife]

pretty sure they put in at likely and get out at quesnel forks, i'm sure if you call the company they won't mind telling you

[Jagermeister]

I once upon a time had a Willy Wide Guide 16' drift boat. I would drift from Beaver Valley and take out at the Gravelle Bridge. You could go a bit further but there are no take outs that are accessible below the bridge. And drifting the canyon is a death wish, whirlpools are plentiful there and they are not a good experience. And speaking of such, there is a nasty about a klick or so down from beaver creek. It's a long straight stretch going down but you want to stay close to the bank on river left to avoid it. there is a ridge that crosses from river right toward river left. it is about ⅔ to ¾ across. The water is funneled to river left and just behind the end of the ridge is a nasty backwater suck that pulls the boat down. Been there once and done that, avoided in all future trips. On the left is an upwelling that looks bad, but it is not. Further down there is a canyon that has a little tram across it. You will see it on the right as you come around the corner. At that moment you will see the river splits into 3 channels, pick the center one and avoid the rollers. Use your oars for steering only and be prepared to bring them parallel to the boat as you are about to be slammed into the wall on river right. Actually, it is unlikely that you will hit the wall because there is an upwelling that pushes the boat away but not before it brings the boat really close. As you come away, there is a significant drop but I never had trouble with it, just a little adrenaline rush. You will see pipes sticking out of the canyon walls, there were anchor points for a dredge long time gone ago.
When Weldwood were driving logs on the river, the jetboats did not run the canyon. Boats worked above the canyon and there were boats that worked below the canyon. Too risky
there is no slack water to speak of so its row row the boat the whole way down. you have to beach to stop and fish a stretch

[Jagermeister]

I had a friend drown there a few years back. Flipped his jet boat on a standing wave. He did it numerous times. Luckily his passengers survived.
http://www.quesnelobserver.com/obituaries/jeff-campbell/
RIP Jeff.

[Drillbit]

pretty sure they put in at likely and get out at quesnel forks, i'm sure if you call the company they won't mind telling you

The raft company puts in at Gravelle ferry and floats into town thru the canyon. I wouldn't drift that tho.

I've jet boated from the Gravelle ferry bridge to quesnel forks lots.