Río Copán, Border Run, Honduras (click here for the Honduras table of rivers)

river photo

Class: III ; Flow: 500-1,500 cfs; Average Gradient: 3 m/km; Portages: no; Length: 27 km; Time: 3.5 hours

Season: June to December; rafts? yes; Highlights: border scenery; Crux move: border crossing

Put-In: Copán Ruinas (584 m); Take-Out: El Florido road (523 m)

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

The Border Run is for those naughty enough to pass mojado ("illegally") into Guatemala. This class III run takes you through pretty valleys and across the border to the confluence with the Río Jupilingo, and then back to the main road at a point about 6 km past the official border crossing. The river in this stretch is mostly flat, but there is some nice cliff scenery, and a few class III rapids in a canyon below the confluence. All told, it is 27 km long. At high water it can be run in 2.5 hours but that time is obviously flow-dependent.

A full description is in the Mayan Whitewater El Salvador, Honduras, & Nicaragua guidebook.

Descent History: Oscar Pérez rafted this section in 1994. I ran it in November 2005.