Blossom Bar Rapids is a Class IV rapid on the Wild and Scenic Rogue River in Curry County, Oregon, a boulder garden in the roadless Wild Section between Grave Creek and Foster Bar. It is known for hard rescues and lost gear.
The falls
Large boulders constrict the Rogue here into a tight, technical line. A dangerous picket fence of undercut rocks and sieves lines the river left; strong current pushes boats that miss the entry into them. The classic route requires a hard eddy-line crossing, with the picket fence marking its edge and Volkswagen Rock near the bottom. The entrance is hard to see from the water.
Getting there
Blossom Bar lies on the 33.8-mile Wild Section float from Grave Creek to Foster Bar, usually a three- to four-day trip. From May 15 to October 15, noncommercial boaters need a Bureau of Land Management permit, won through a Recreation.gov lottery: $10 per person per trip, with launches capped at 120 people a day. The Wild Rogue is managed jointly by the BLM and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
The 40-mile Rogue River National Recreation Trail passes the rapid at trail mile 26.4 from the Grave Creek trailhead. Hikers who carry all their own gear need no permit and pay no fee; boat-supported hikers need one.
When to go
Flow on the Grave Creek to Foster Bar run ranges from 1,200 to 30,000 cubic feet per second at the Rogue River near Agness gauge: 1,200 to 2,500 cfs is low, 2,500 to 10,000 medium and 10,000 to 30,000 high. Spring and fall are recommended for the trail. In 2026 the Moon Complex fire affected the Wild Section, and the BLM lists the Brushy Bar and Big Bend/Foster Bar trail areas as closed; check with the Smullin Visitor Center before launching or hiking.
On site
Scout from the rocks on river right before committing. Boats that miss the line wrap, pin or flip on the picket fence. A drowning occurred at Blossom Bar on September 2, 2011. The BLM trail guide places a toilet at the lower Blossom Bar campsite.
History and name
Blossom Bar was once an unrunnable boulder garden that boats had to portage. A former mining stamp mill stood at the site, and Glen Wooldridge blasted rocks out of the channel with dynamite in the 1930s and 1940s to open a passage. The name is tied to the Western azalea that blooms along the river in spring.
Nearby
Devils Stairs is about 0.2 mile away, with Paradise Riffle and Coffeepot each about 1 mile and Half Moon Riffle about 1.4 miles.
Distances are straight-line.