The Salmon River is located in Idaho in the northwestern United States. The
Salmon is also known as The River of No Return. It flows for 425 miles through
central Idaho, draining a rugged, thinly populated watershed of 14,000 square
miles and dropping more than 7,000 feet between its headwaters, near Galena
Summit above the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and
its confluence with the Snake River. Measured at White Bird, its average
discharge is 11,060 cubic feet per second. It is one of the largest rivers
in the continental United States without a single dam on its mainstem.
Cities located along the Salmon River include Stanley, Clayton, Challis,
Salmon, Riggins, and White Bird. Redfish Lake and Little Redfish Lake near
Stanley, which flow into the river via Redfish Lake Creek, are the terminus of
the longest Pacific sockeye salmon migration in North America.
Course The Salmon River originates from and
flows through the mountains of central and eastern Idaho. The main stem rises
in the Sawtooth Range at over 9,200 feet in elevation, several miles northwest of
Norton Peak. For the first 30 miles, it flows north through the Sawtooth Valley,
then turns east at Stanley, receiving the Yankee Fork shortly below that point
and the East Fork further downstream. The river then flows northeast,
receiving the Pahsimeroi River at Ellis and then the Lemhi River at Salmon,
Idaho east of the Lemhi Range. North of Salmon, the river is joined by
the North Fork, before turning west into over 200 miles of continuous canyons
through the Salmon River and Clearwater Mountains – some of the most rugged and
isolated terrain in the contiguous United States. Exhibiting upwards of
7,000 feet of vertical relief, the Salmon River canyons are some of the
deepest in the US, surpassing the Grand Canyon and second only to the Snake
River's Hells Canyon on the Idaho–Oregon border. Here, the river is joined by its
two largest tributaries, the Middle Fork and South Fork. Ten miles downstream of
its confluence with the Middle Fork, the Salmon River becomes the dividing line
for the two time zones in Idaho: Mountain time to the south, Pacific time
to the north, bisecting the state at approximately 45.5 degrees north
latitude. The river turns abruptly north at the
confluence with the Little Salmon River at Riggins, about 87 miles above its
mouth. From there the river flows almost due north, passing White Bird, before
looping northwest and south to its confluence with the Snake River north of
Hells Canyon, 15 miles south of the Washington border and 40 miles south of
Lewiston. History
= Anthropology= The Salmon River area has been home to
people for at least the last 8,000 years. Much of the area was inhabited by
several tribes, including the Nez Perce. The river was considered sacred ground
and a rich source of food for the indigenous people of the area, who
relied on the abundant salmon species and other wildlife.
= Corps of Discovery= In August 1805, just after crossing the
Continental Divide of the Americas, Lewis and Clark ventured down the Salmon
River, but found it to be too rough to be navigable. Clark wrote:
"...I shall in justice to Capt. Lewis who was the first white man ever on this
fork of the Columbia Call this Louis's river. ...The Westerly fork of the
Columbia River [the present Salmon River] is double the size of the
Easterley fork [the present Lemhi River] & below those forks the river is ...100
yards [100 m] wide, it is very rapid & Sholey water Clear but little timber."
The honor didn't last long; by 1810 maps of the area were already referring to
"Louis' River" as the Salmon. Clark had thought that the Salmon River was the
Snake River, thus he called it the "Westerly fork of the Columbia". The
Snake River retained the variant name "Lewis River" or "Lewis Fork" longer
than did the Salmon. = Gold=
In the 1860s, placer deposits of gold were found along the river, and a gold
rush began. Miners came to the area, causing clashes with the Nez Perce on
their ancestral tribal lands. Many historic and present day mines can be
seen while traveling along the river. Recreation
Several national forests and Sawtooth National Recreation Area provide for
numerous recreation opportunities within the river's watershed. Two segments are
protected as National Wild and Scenic Rivers. The Middle Fork was one of the
original eight rivers designated Wild and Scenic in 1968, and is often
considered the "crown jewel" of the Wild and Scenic system.
The Salmon is a popular destination for whitewater kayaking, canoeing and
rafting. The canyons of the Salmon allow for magnificent views of the complex
geology of the region. The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness
Area includes one of the deepest canyons in the continental United States, which
at roughly 7,000 feet of vertical relief, is deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Both the Middle Fork and Main Fork travel through the Frank Church-River of
No Return Wilderness Area. The Middle Fork is about 110 miles long, while the
Main Fork is about 81 miles long. The Middle Fork raft trip run ends 7 miles
prior to the beginning of the Main Fork run; Corn Creek is the start of the Main
Fork section of the Salmon River. The South Fork of the Salmon flows
through Payette National Forest and enters the Wild and Scenic Main Fork at
Mackay Bar. The Main Fork raft trip ends about 25 miles east of Riggins, either
at Vinegar Creek or Carey Creek, marking the beginning of the Lower Salmon
rafting section. Boating companies offer both single and multiple day trips on
the river. The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is
known as one of the best catch and release fly fisheries in the nation.
Other recreational activities along the river include camping, hiking and
mountain biking. Wildlife
The Salmon River historically produced 45% percent of all the steelhead and 45
percent of all the spring and summer chinook salmon in the entire Columbia
River Basin. The Salmon River basin contains most of the remaining salmon
and steelhead habitat in the Columbia River Basin. Despite the abundant salmon
habitat in the river, these fish have been declining, in large part because of
the effects of four federal reservoirs and dams on the lower Snake and Columbia
rivers. USGS stations
The United States Geological Survey operates four stream gauge water level
monitoring stations on the main stem of the Salmon River and 17 others on its
tributaries. Real time data is available for each station on the USGS website.
For a map of these see Salmon River USGS Station Map or in the box at right.
Photo gallery See also
List of Idaho rivers List of longest streams of Idaho
List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers References
External links Salmon River – Salmon River, Info Hub
Visit Idaho.org – Idaho Rivers Salmon River
Middle Fork of the Salmon