Tien Phuoc River - Lower Canyons
Section Length: ~ 24 km
Put In: bridge in Tien Phuoc town Take Out: Tan An town |
Difficulty: II+
Est. Flow: too low < 200 < 5000? < too high Paddlers: Craig Ryan, Max Ryan, Colorado Man, Phạm Đức Toàn |
The Song Tien is a nice lengthy float through some pleasant countryside in Tien Phuoc District, in Quang Nam. With a few small waves to keep people entertained, it is more of a nice mellow trip to soak in the scenery and enjoy the rural surroundings than it is an extreme adventure. The whitewater on this doesn't exceed II+, and although there are occasional spicy lines to take on the side of the river, there is almost always a clear channel, or at the very least very easy riffles that just about any paddler could come through just fine. Most of the riverbed and banks is either a combination of sediment soils or bedrock. It is these occasional bedrock sections that cause the small rapids and spicy lines, as well as providing some interesting currents and eddylines.
SUP'ing through some of the narrower bedrock sections (above), and enjoying a wider bedrock section (below).
Logistics are simple, if a little long; the put in is at the bridge right below the small dam in Tien Phuoc town, and the takeout is in Tan An town, in Hiep Duc District. The put in can be found by taking Highway 616 west from Tam Ky to Tien Phuoc, and the takeout can be reached by driving north on Highway 614, from Tien Phuoc north to Tan An. This float should be doable by just about all folks, especially if going with competent leadership. As far as flows, there is a very wide range of flows on this river, and since a decent amount of it is actually set in small bedrock sections, it can channelize nicely and be run down to quite low flows. At higher levels the biggest problem is swims; without many rapids to break up the current, it can be hard to find good eddies and a swim at high flows could last quite a while. Likewise, there are a couple of small bridges that might need to be walked around during the highest of flows. But really, this river does go quite well from low flows to high flows.
The length of this run is quite long, and unless you get a really early start and plan on finishing late, and making a very long day of it, this run is best done by splitting it up into two days and doing an overnight trip. This is a good trip for an overnighter, as the easy logistics, easy whitewater and calm nature should afford a great and relaxing float. In addition, there are plenty of great campsites along the way, hidden on islands, gravel bars and in groves along the river banks.
The Map
Information provided by Craig Ryan & Phạm Đức Toàn
All photos copyright Craig Ryan and Phạm Đức Toàn.
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