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

river photo

Class: IV+ ; Flow: 500-1,600 cfs; Average Gradient: 8 m/km; Portages: yes; Length: 23 km; Time: 6 hours

Season: June to December; rafts? no; Highlights: La Ventana; Crux move: kayak spelunking

Put-In: bridge to La Unión (516 m); Take-Out: Guata bridge (347 m)

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

The Río Yaguala is an adventurous trip in the rugged Yoro highlands within striking distance of the north coast. There is a good bit of class V mixed in with the class IV. Because of the many undercut limestone boulders and bigger volume than most creeks in Honduras, plan on lots of scouting and some portaging. Its unique feature is the runnable La Ventana cave, which is also portageable. The logistics are also tougher than normal, with a long-way- around shuttle on rough roads and a new dam under construction that takes away the easiest downstream access.

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

Descent History: The first descent was by the Ríos Honduras guys in the early 1990s. I ran this once, in August 2006, with 800 cfs at the PI.