Río Nunuapa, El Salvador (click here for the El Salvador table of rivers)

river photo

Class: IV- ; Flow: 100-350 cfs; Ave. Gradient: 14 m/km; Portages: no; Length: 14 km; Time: 2.5 hours

Season: June to October ; rafts? no; Highlights: scenery; Crux move: progressive volume

PI: La Palma (860 m); TO: Llano de la Virgen on Río Lempa (670 m)

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

The Río Nunuapa is an attractive alternate entrance to the Upper Río Lempa run when the water is up, allowing an intermediate run down to Llano de la Virgen. Most of the run is class III through an out-of-the-way flood-scoured valley but there are some sections that are flow-dependent IV-. In addition, you will see a couple of portageable class IVs on the Río Lempa.

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

Descent History: I ran this in October 2022, with a low 100 cfs at the PI and 200 cfs through the heart of the valley.

Flow Notes: The Río Nunuapa is hard to catch. The only online gauge is way downstream at Zapotillo, which read 1.8 on my trip.