Umkomaas River – Impendle to Lundy’s Hill
Umkomaas River – Impendle to Lundy’s Hill · kwazulu-natal
Grade
IV
Length
38km
Duration
8 hours if the river is not high. Long 1 day, easy 2 day trip.
Type
pool drop
About
38km pool-drop (middle more continuous). Long one-day or easy two-day trip — ~8 hours at normal flow. Sits below most major tributaries, so volume is similar to lower runs. Put-in: road bridge between Netherby and Impendle (dirt roads normally good). Take-out: just upstream of the second (riverwise) bridge at the Lundy's Hill store turn-off from the R617. All rapids runnable in a kayak or inflatable; some need bank scouting. Nasty rapids have easy chicken runs. Middle section (3-4 hrs) holds many rapids with short pools, becoming continuous at high water. A solid grade 4 with big boulders and tight lines marks the end of the continuous section; pools lengthen after it. Further down: a particularly bad rapid where the main flow runs into a pour-over then an undercut — injury hazard. Spray gives it away at medium-to-high levels. Take the right chicken run or portage left. A nasty weir just above the take-out must be portaged. At high water exit on the right bank well upstream to avoid being washed over. Competent K1 paddlers can run most rapids but not all. More rapids than Hella-Hella, and several are harder. Low water may make it too long for unfit paddlers in a day.
Access
Put-in
Take-out
Permits
None
Recent sessions
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