Río Escalón, Chiapas, Mexico (area: north central; click here for the Chiapas table of rivers)

river photo

Class: V; Ave. Gradient: 17 m/km; Portages: many; Length: 7 to 16 km; Time: 6 hours

Season: June to February; rafts? no; Highlights: some great intermediate sections, anda section awaiting a first descent; Crux move: Barrancas Escalón

Water Quality: excellent; Water Temperature: cool

PI: Amatán bridge (300 m); TO: Cerro Blanco Primero Sección

Description: (click here for general notes about my descriptions)

Río Escalón (aka Río Amatán) is a big RL tributary of Río Almandro-Tacotalpa, entering at Tapijulapa. It has some class V gorges upstream. Also, the final gorge has yet to see a descent.

A full description is in the Mayan Whitewater: Chiapas & Belize guidebook.

Descent History: Rocky's first descent (only up to the mid-way access) was January 20–21, 2012.

Flow Notes:The river has water June–January. Beware of high water. The Tapijulapa gauge will not give any definitive clues, but you will want to see recent movement here.

Nearby Tourist Attractions: near Tapijulapa: Cuevas Kolem Chen, various other caves, and the Kolem Jaa ecotourist resort.