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Soča River. The European mecca of Kayaking...

and of course, packraft 😉. A dream come true!

By Packrafting.cat

November 24^th, 2024

“Rivers are places that renew our spirit, connect us with our past, and link us directly with the flow and rythm of the natural world”

Twice! Yes, twice I had sinned! 😈 I knew that a third time was not possible, it was not a possibility to take into account... I would have burst and descended directly to the confines of the underworld.... Twice I calmly endured (as calmly as a bomb before exploding) the fact of visiting the valley of the Soča river without getting into the water! Total sin!

Third time's the charm!

Europe Packraft Meetup

Every year a packrafter meetup is organized on the Soca River, more information at packrafting europe meetup:

https://blog.packrafting.cat/europe-packraft-meetup

In the end I was destined to meet some wonderful people with dreams similar to mine. How long should it have taken me to say yes to a pilgrimage to the mecca of European whitewater, or was it me who proposed it? I don't remember 🤷. Or maybe it was the trickster of Curro...

And which Mecca am I talking about, the Mecca of the followers of the whitewater god! I'm talking about the river Soča (pronounced "Socha" or "Sotcha") in the middle of the Julian Alps in Slovenia. More specifically we are very close to the national park of Mount Triglav which for even more enjoyment I also climbed, but that will be a story for another day...

And if I want to give you envy, to delight myself by explaining one of those stories in which everything goes great and that I will surely tell and retell to my grandchildren when I'm old, I will tell you that I was not "alone" once, but I was there twice in the same month 💃. I was part of two groups of pilgrims, which allowed me to do all the sections of the river, except the Cataract section of which there are horror stories and legends that I didn't want to check if they were true.

Later I will introduce you to "The gang", the troupe, the assholes I went with, but first a little bit of Wikipedia...

El valle del río Soča

The Isonzo/Soča River (Slovenian: Soča; Italian: Isonzo; Friulian: Lusinç) is a 140 km long river that flows through Western Slovenia and then flows into Northeastern Italy.

It is a characteristic alpine river, whose source is located at an altitude of 1,100 meters. The river rises in the Julian Alps, west of Mount Triglav (2864 m), the highest peak in Slovenia. After crossing this mountain, its course heads south through the towns of Bovec, Kobarid, Tolmin, Nova Gorica (where the Solkan Bridge is located) and Gorizia, finally flowing into the Adriatic Sea, near the Italian town of Monfalcone. Thus, the Soča runs 99 km in Slovenia and 41 km in Italy.

The Soča Valley (or Isonzo Valley) was the scene of one of the largest war operations of World War I, between May 1915 and November 1917. This period saw the Twelve Battles of the Isonzo on the Italian Front, in which more than 300,000 Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers lost their lives.

The famous stretch for kayaking/packrafting is the stretch that goes from the villages near Bovec (multisport base in the area) to Tolmin, being the last stretch from Kobarid to Tolmin a stretch of calm water, very nice but without remarkable rapids.

Sergi, explain us a little more...

SECTIONS

The stretches of the Soca river are:

T0 Upper Soca: From Lepena (just after the beautiful gorga of Velika korita Soče) to the confluence of the river Soca and the river Koritnica where we had our accommodation (camping Liza).
T1 Confluence Koritnica - bridge Čezsoča (Prijon Center) - Slap Boka - Sprenica 1: Quiet stretch for everyone where you can relax and watch the scenery while being carried away by the river current.
T2 Srpenica 1 - Tronovo 1: 4 km Cl II to III (3+) a very entertaining section.
T3 Tronovo 1 to Tronovo 2 - Slalon section. Short slalom of approx. 1 km distance with class IV rapids.
T4 Gorge de la Soča. Cataract section. It is 2 km of class IV+ with many potential hazards due to siphons. We did not do this section.
T5- Otona - Kobarid section. 3 km Cl III (3+) of beautiful route combining open mouth scenery with good and constant class III rapids.
T6- Kobarid - Tolmin: 14 km of calm water ride.

To these sections we have to add the section of the Koritnica river.

T1 Koritnica: One of the best sections of the Soca valley.

Below I detail the information of all these sections.

Google Map

Here you can find a detail of all the highlights of the Soca River.

T0 Upper Soca Lepena - Vodenca (Camping Liza)

See the articlePackraft on the river Soca Slovenia section 0 Upper Soca from Lepena (Velika Korita) to the confluence with the river Koritnica at Camping Liza.

https://blog.packrafting.cat/packraft-rio-soca-eslovenia-upper-soca-lepena-velika-korita-a-confluencia-koritnica-camping-liza

You can check the packraft route of the Upper Soca section from Lepena to Vodenca on Wikiloc:

T1 Koritnica

See the article Packrafting Koritnica River, beautiful river in the Soca Valley, near Bovec in the Triglav National Park.

https://blog.packrafting.cat/packrafting-rio-koritnica-valle-del-soca-bovec-triglav-national-park

T4 Cataract Section. Los sifones.

⚠️ This section is only for experts, it is essential to do a previous scouting and ideally go with a guide who knows the section. Or even better, the commitment of the section vs your interest possibly causes that the best option is to carry/avoid this section.

I have never done this section and I don't think I ever will. It is a section IV+ with a great potential danger of death due to the existence of siphons.

In the Europe packraft meetup, the most experts who had done it did not recommend going and in fact, according to their own words, they themselves would not repeat it, which says a lot.

Soča River. The European mecca of Kayaking...

Additional information on the section Cataract:

Eaux vives - P3 - Gorge de la Soca - Gorge de la Soca IV+
Rivermap Cataract Section Tronovo Otona IV+(V)
In the Whitewater guide application in the map of the eastern Alps you will find the information of the Soca river.
In the RiverApp you will find all the documented stretches.

T5 Otona section

Check out Río Soča. Packraft en la sección Otona - Kobarid.

https://blog.packrafting.cat/rio-soca-packraft-en-la-seccion-otona-kobarid

T6 - Kobarid (después puente Napoleon) a Tolmin

Check out Río Soča. Packraft Calma chicha de Kobarid a Tolmin.

https://blog.packrafting.cat/rio-soca-packraft-en-la-seccion-otona-kobarid

Caudales

About the water levels in the first week I was there, this was the graph from the riverApp app.

The first day it was raining hard and that helped the water levels. On the other hand, about 15 days later, the levels were close to "low water". The entrance to the Gorge and the Gorge itself is very different depending on the water level, not always less water means easier, but, in the case of canyoned sections like this one, high water levels do mean more potential dangers because in the Gorge powerful cutouts can form. Be safe please!

Click on the map to see it in full.

https://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/site-media/socarivermap.pdf

Carlos Gang

Equipo Aoraki

The first team was sponsored by Packrafting Spain (Jamón Ibérico Sponsorship ™), the entire team with the Aoraki Packraft tuticolori:

The hiking trails through the river valleys are highly recommended. Personally, just arrived, it was a good idea to visit the starting point of the Koritnica Gorges, we got some very mystical photos.

Velika korita Soče (Great Soča Gorge)

You will pass through here on your way to the Upper Soca T0 parking lot. It is well worth a stop to visit and get to know this narrow (and forbidding) canyon of the Soca River.

A few pictures are worth a thousand words...

Someday I have to explain this story in detail, but for now here is a quick recommendation: climb Mount Triglav, there are several ways, but the one I chose to climb with sections of via ferrata I recommend it, a strenuous and unique experience.

Venecia

If, like us, you fly to Venice, you can make an express visit...

Packraft en el río Noguera Pallaresa

The river is a living environment, changing and subject to permanent development. The publishers of the river sketches and the creators of this website cannot be held responsible in any case in case of inaccuracy, omission or error in the river sketches. The topos editors and website creators disclaim all liability in case of any accident that may occur on the rivers described in this guide.