Dam Drop

RB Team — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 07:06:52 +0000

Iowa’s First Whitewater Park is ~1200 feet long with three distinct features, and is entertaining at flows of 600-14,000 cfs. The river levels are rain dependent (not dam/release), and are generally best in spring/early summer. If fall rains prevail, flows can be good into fall and early winter. Late July, August, and Sept are typically the lowest flowing months. Two main features for surfing: Dam Drop (DD Wave) and Tew Shanez.

Spot Details

Country: USA, North America
Nearest town/city: Charles City, Iowa
River: Cedar River
Address: 106 Chapel Ln, Charles City, IA 50616
Directions: Park at Riverside Park next to the library.
Latitude: 43.064925
Longitude: -92.677792

Wave Details

Characteristics

0-400: Low. Use inflatable with short fins. A little tricky staying in the wave at this level for novice surfers. Not much carving at these levels.

400-700: Low but easier to catch, mild carving. Stick with inflatables.

700-1500: The wave is about 2.5-3ft tall, 25ft wide and pure glass! This is the best for riversurfing/sup surfing. Hardboards work around 1000cfs. Get’s nice and glassy. Great level to learn at.

1500-3500: On the higher end of this range riversurfing/sup surfing is great on DD Wave in the pocket

3500-5500: High. Secondary wave of DD can be accessed river left, but is a bit tricky.

5500+: Extremely high, Above 5500 eddy access is mostly gone for all features. Some drop in play possible and some secondary waves are eddy accessible but change moment to moment.