Río Grande, Lower, and Río Portillo, Nicaragua (click here for the Nicaragua table of rivers)

river photo

Class: III ; Flow: 400-3,500 cfs; Average Gradient: 2 m/km; Portages: no; Length: up to 38 km; Time: up to 6 hours

Season: June to October ; rafts? Lower; Highlights: scenery and birding; Crux move: bringing enough drinking water

Put-In: Los Encuentros (103 m) or Hato Viejo (119 m); Take-Out: highway bridge (30 m) or above

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

Being among the region's easier and bigger water runs, the Lower Río Grande also competes well for scenery. (It also has the longest shuttle.) The class II/III rapids are usually formed and marked by large interesting volcanic rock formations. At higher water, the first rapid is almost continuous for 3 km and my best description is "monument valley maze." There are rapids the entire length, but they get more and more spaced out, so you may be interested in the rough TO directly south of Valle Las Pilas, halfway. You may see wood storks and roseate spoonbills if you are lucky.

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

Descent History: I ran this in October 2019, with 1,000 cfs in the Río Potrillo and 2,500 cfs in the Río Grande.