Río Jalapa, Upper, Guatemala (area: Mid Río Motagua; click here for the Guatemala table of rivers)

Class: IV; Ave. Gradient: 30 m/km becoming flat; Portages: dams; Length: up to 20 km; Time: up to 3 hours

Season: June to October; rafts? no; Highlights: remote feel; Crux move:

Water Quality: poor; Water Temperature: medium

PI: Urlanta (1560 m); TO: Jalapa (1357 m) or San José bridge (1340 m)

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

The Upper Río Jalapa offers some micro-creeking up top and some easier class III drops lower down. I had fun exploring it, but I don’t consider it a classic. It is hard to catch the water, and there are several diversion dams on the way.

A full description is in the Mayan Whitewater Guatemala guidebook.

Descent History: I ran this solo in September 2008.

Flow Notes: You need extra-high water to catch the water here. The Río Motagua gauge can give a hint to relative flows, and you could also verify that gauges on the Río Esclavos and Río Ostúa are up since their headwaters are in the same general area

Nearby Tourist Attractions: Not much in this area.