Elizabeth Lake Canyon Creek
Los Angeles County, California

Convenient, roadside access. Pleasant Southern California scenery. A sheer-walled gorge. The awkwardly-named Elizabeth Lake Canyon Creek has all this and more. Unfortunately "more" in this case includes numerous portages around fallen trees and dangerous man-made obstacles, interrupted by generally mundane, low-gradient/low volume boating. ELCC is thus in no respect a classic and is included here only for reference.

ELCC begins its short run in the sandy alluvium near Lake Hughes, at about 3200 feet above sea level. From here, at the fringe of the Mojave Desert, the creek winds southwest through scenic chaparral-studded hills for some 15 miles before reaching Castaic Lake. In bygone days it joined Castaic Creek prior to reaching the Santa Clara River, but now the confluence lies somewhere beneath Castaic Lake's surface.

While the entire creek can be run by those possessing the requisite skills and masochistic leanings, only the lowermost 4.5 miles are documented here.

Elizabeth Lake Canyon Creek is north of Los Angeles

The creek is part of the Santa Clara River system.

Ruby Canyon to Castaic Lake
(4.5 miles, Cl III-IV-, 108 fpm average gradient)

Keith Beck enjoying one of ELCC's dams

This stretch offers the best scenery and most reliable flows in the canyon. There are some actual boating moves to be had as well. While the overall rating is probably about Class III, be forwarned that significant tree hazards exist throughout the run! Several of the sedimentation dams (constructed in a futile attempt to prevent the creek's abundant silt from filling Castaic Lake) are runnable, but most are not. Scout carefully.

Mile by Mile Notes

0: Warm Springs Road put in. Many fallen trees in the next 1.5 miles.

.6: Ruby Canyon joins the creek on river left.

1.4 Start of 200' deep bedrock gorge. There are two sediment dams here. The first is runnable but the second is very dangerous due to protruding bits of steel re-bar.

2: End of gorge. Scrapy Class II-III

2.6: Small, formerly-runnable diversion dam is now choked with large boulders. Portage on right.

2.8: Creek passes under Lake Hughes Road. Just downstream are two more weirs. Both have bad landings at low flows. Easy portages.

3.2-4.5: Some tight boulder slaloms lead to generally open Class II-III until the reservoir is reached. Walk back upstream to the locked gate.

To get to the takeout, exit I-5 just north of Castaic on Lake Hughes Road. Drive east for 12 miles, passing south then east of Castaic Lake. Look carefully for a road that veers left; this passes through a chain link fence and leads to the now-abandoned Elizabeth Lake Guard Station. Drive down this road a couple hundred yards and park near a locked gate. You'll need an "Adventure Pass" to park here and at any of the access points for the run.

To get to the put in, get back on Elizabeth Lake Canyon Road and drive north until reaching the Warm Springs/Ruby Creek area (further if you feel ambitious, less if you've seen enough). Enroute, there are plenty of places to pull over and scout the run's sundry and various hazards, most of which are visible from the road. As of January 1999 the Warm Springs Road area was fenced and gated off so some hunting for an appropriate parking spot is required.

Elizabeth Lake Canyon Creek is only boatable for a few days after winter storms. The constricted, tree-laden nature of this creek does not lend itself to high-water boating, though the last mile or so above Castaic Lake would remain reasonable at high levels.

This document was last updated on Thursday, February 18, 1999

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