Río Grande de Matagalpa, Middle, Nicaragua (click here for the Nicaragua table of rivers)

river photo

Class: III (IV) ; Flow: 800-3,000 cfs; Average Gradient: 3 m/km; Portages: yes; Length: 30 km; Time: (or more) 4.5 hours

Season: June to October ; rafts? yes; Highlights: countryside floating; Crux move: applying sunscreen

Put-In: Guasimit (384 m) or above; Take-Out: Puente El Bopal (308 m)

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

The Río Grande de Matagalpa may have been a grande river in the past, but it is not one currently. It has a large but significantly degraded watershed and it does not hold its water well. The exacerbated seasonal run-off ravages the few riparian zones left untouched by human activity. I encountered many icky muddy riverbanks. Yet there is some whitewater still to be enjoyed, both in the class III/IV sections above Sébaco (the Upper section) after extra heavy rains (so far I have not been lucky enough to catch it), or the class II/III sections below Ciudad Darío (the Middle parts) after normal heavy rains.

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

Descent History: The famous CanoAndes group first paddled this river in 1980. However, I have not been able to get information on what section they ran. Daniel Shaneyfelt explored down to Puente La Laguna in 2008.