America Outdoors outfitters offer wonderful hiking, backpacking, whitewater rafting, fishing, inflatable kayaking, eco tours, dude ranch lodging, family trips, canoeing, interpretive trips, scenic float trips and kayaking on the Lower Salmon River.
The 425-mile waterway of the Salmon River is the longest in the lower 48 states and one of the few in the nation that contain no dams. The river begins at not much more than a trickle at an elevation of about 8,000 feet in the Sawtooth and Whitecloud Mountains of central Idaho. It gathers force as it makes its way northeast and then west, fed by snows from the Sawtooth and Salmon River Mountains in the south and the Clearwater and Bitterroot Mountains in the north.
About 150 miles further on its westward course, the Salmon River has carved the second deepest canyon in North America, which effectively splits Idaho in half. The section known as the Lower Salmon River begins at Vinegar Creek, 25 miles above the town of Riggins. At Riggins, the river swings north and then west for 87 miles where it then meets the Snake River. The Salmon and Snake combine to flow into the Columbia River and eventually into the ocean. The drainage area of the Salmon River, which lies entirely within Idaho's borders, encompasses approximately 13,550 square miles. The river and its canyon are truly remarkable. The numerous and unusual white sand beaches are a reminder that this river is still free flowing.
The Lower Salmon River is a "pool and drop" river, with the more difficult rapids in the narrow canyons, including class III (medium) to class IV (difficult). Numerous white and sandy beaches on both sides of the river offer camping. The 20-mile stretch of the Snake River, from the confluence with the Salmon River to the Heller Bar take-out near the confluence with the Grande Ronde River, contains slower moving water with some rapids and is often characterized by stiff up-canyon winds.
Salmon River (Lower)
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