Río El Gallo, Upper, Middle, & Lower, Nicaragua (click here for the Nicaragua table of rivers)

river photo

Class: IV, IV-, II ; Flow: 75-800 cfs; Average Gradient: 15 m/km Upper, 3 m/km below; Portages: in Upper; Length: 12+10+9 km; Time: 3.5+1.5+1.5 hr

Season: June to October ; rafts? not Upper; Highlights: mini-creeking in Upper; Crux move: catching the water

Put-In: El Gallo (281 m), Valle Nombre de Jesús (107 m), or Las Mesitas (64 m); Take-Out: Somotillo (42 m) or above

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

The Río El Gallo is a small creek also known as the Río Somotillo closer to town. The white granite in the Upper creates varied and beautiful drops. It seems the higher the water, the better, which unfortunately is not the common case. In the first hour down to the RR Quebrada Canoas, the drops are quite bouldery and I portaged three of the mankier ones. The next 30 minutes (down to the Las Lajitas area, an alternate rough PI) is straightforward class III. This is followed by 45 minutes of more class IV which is also more gorgy, with a number of scouts and portages and also two low dams, one 5 minutes after the first portage, and the other at the end of the gorges. The last hour is again class III. Overall, I would say that the Upper is a good introduction to mini-creeking for those who have an expert guide.

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

Descent History: I ran this in October 2019, with 75 cfs at the PI and 350 cfs at the TO.