Kayaking on Provo River Utah - Things to Do in Provo Canyon
Kayak the Rapids
Floating by river front property.
The trip south of the bridge has a few, very, mild rapid sections that are only class 2- to 2 at the most. After the train bridge, there are a couple of rapids and then they turn into flat water. There is an area where you have the option to get out, However, High Country Rafting will charge you to get out there. Your shuttle car is downstream further so you get a longer float. You will go under a bridge just after the High Country Rafting exit. The river will move at a good pace for a little while and then it will become slow moving. There will be marshes that start to appear on both sides of the river and shallow areas covered by water. I would stay away from them and do not get out of your raft or tube here. There are rumors of leeches in the mud. I have never seen them but if you would like to investigate, help yourself. Look to the right and you will see the concrete walkway and foot bridge traffic. The best thing to do is get out on the right side just before the concrete platform. You can use the platform to deflate your tubes to carry them back to your car.
Maneuver for miles
Most Kayakers put in just downstream from the first train bridge. If the water level is high, there will be a couple small rapids right off the bat. After the first small rapids, the river will widen and there will be a fork in the river. You will want to go to the left here. This is the area that you are most likely to drag on the bottom. There will be a couple of small rapids with long periods of flat straight sections in between. There will be one long period of straight water that will last for about 5-10 minutes. Shortly after this stay to the right side of the water and keep an eye out for the train bridge. Without fail there is always a canoe, kayak, or inflatable wrapped around the pillar. In addition to the bad angle, large metal spikes stick out just below the water level. The current pushes you one way and the bridge-supports run another way. This almost always causes the object to wrap around the pillar.
This is the place where you should use caution you should exit the river on the right about 20 yards before the first bridge. It is advisable that you should exit the river on the right just before the train bridge and re-enter the river on the other side. Recently they have put up a log fence to prevent people from exiting the river here. I normally don’t encourage people to fence hop, but it is much safer to hop the fence than to try and float through with anything bigger than an inner tube. The reality of the situation is that whoever put up the fence to discourage people from exiting the river, has no concern for human life. I have seen people tear their legs open on the spikes, get pinned between their rafts and the bridge supports. It is bad for all but the experienced paddler.