About Green Wall Rapid
Green Wall Rapid is the only Class V on the Illinois River and is well-known in the rafting community for its difficulty. It’s a longer rapid with a complicated entrance, and becomes a very narrow constriction with some tight slots at low-medium flows. We recommend scouting this rapid, as there are many hazards and features you’ll want to know about.
The rapid begins with a rocky, sweeping right bend, with many large boulders and waves to keep an eye out for. Enter left of center, but work right to avoid getting pushed into the left bank. Pick your line through a few large boulders before the river constricts. There is an eddy on the left bank at most flows that you can pull into if you want to slow down and possibly scout the Class V section.
The crux of this rapid involves picking the correct slot/angle through which to put your boat. Below this section, work left, to avoid getting pushed into the flip wall on the right, but be wary of a large hole on the left side. At higher flows, these rocks become an enormous hole known as Harvey’s Hole. You can go left of this hole, and then you’ll have to work back towards the center.