Río Negro, Upper & Lower, Nicaragua (click here for the Nicaragua table of rivers)

river photo

Class: IV+, III ; Flow: 150-3,000 cfs; Average Gradient: 11 m/km Upper, 3 m/km Lower; Portages: in Upper; Length: 14+25 km; Time: 5+3 hours

Season: June to October ; rafts? Lower; Highlights: fun and beautiful; Crux move: wearing good booties

Put-In: San Juan de Limay road (254 m) or La Batea (100m); Take-Out: bridge near Somotillo (38 m)

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

The Río Negro gives you your Cordoba's worth with a long stretch of class IV in the Upper and a smattering of (potentially) big class III in the Lower. The Upper is probably my favorite run in the unusually dense creeking playground that is the Somotillo highlands.

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

Descent History: I ran this in October 2018 with Tom van Rijs and Sawyer Ballew, with a big 2,000 cfs at the PI (and an unplanned overnight at La Batea).