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III

Rapid Rating

1.42

River Mileage

The bottom wave at Ewing's Rapid on the Upper Kern river
Ewing’s Rapid at high water. Photo by Kern River Outfitters.
ewings rapid on the upper kern river
The Ewing’s hole at high water

About Ewing’s Rapid

The grand finale of the Lickety Split of the Upper Kern, Ewing’s is the ultimate last rapid as it is a soaker. The rapid is named after Ewing’s Restaurant which is perched above the rapid on river left. Restaurant patrons get an excellent view of the action below, which during high water is frequent. The restaurant was opened in 1954 by Jack Ewing.

How to run Ewing’s Rapid

At low to medium flows the rapid has a class II entrance with a class III drop. This drop features the main event – a large hole that typically requires a right angle to hit it straight. As the water gets higher, this feature gets more and more flippy, but fortunately, a run to the right of it opens up allowing you to bypass it entirely. If you do have swimmers here make sure you recover them quickly as takeout is just downstream.