Río Jalán, Upper, Honduras (click here for the Honduras table of rivers)

river photo

Class: IV-; Flow: 300-800 cfs; Average Gradient: 5 m/km; Portages: maybe one; Length: 31 km; Time: 4 hours

Season: June to October; rafts? no; Highlights: getting away from it all; Crux move: slippery shuttle roads

Put-In: La Patastera (720 m); Take-Out: Teupasenti (570 m)

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

The headwaters of the Río Jalán are the source of the longest river in Honduras, eventually becoming the Río Patuca and emptying into the Caribbean Sea. This entire length was free-flowing until 2019 when the Patuca III dam was completed. Most of the potentially navigable sections of this long waterway are low gradient. The main exception is the Upper section upstream of Teupasenti, which is mostly class III with some class IV. There is very little human trash in the river, and lots of Spanish moss trash in the trees--just the way it should be.

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

Descent History: I ran the Upper Río Jalán in August 2017, with 350 cfs at the PI. 222 Southern Honduras