Rafting the Middle Fork

The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is considered by many as the best alpine rafting trip in North America. It has everything you'd want in a river trip: fantastic scenery, interesting history, hot springs, great whitewater, beautiful side hikes, world-class fly fishing and crystal clear water. People journey from all over the world to raft this river. It makes a perfect rafting trip because of the plentiful rapids, which rarely require a portage.

The Trip

Rafting the Middle Fork's Impassable Canyon Trips can be 4-6 days and cover 75-100 miles. You'll meet your group and head guide in Stanley, ID the night before the trip. Early season put-in is at Boundary Creek, which you'll be driven to on the first day. In late July or August, put-in is moved 25 miles downriver to Indian Creek, because the first 25 miles drop to a water level which is too low to raft. This will require a short flight into the river.

Take-out is at Cache Bar, which is 4 miles past the confluence with the Main Salmon River. You'll have lunch at the take-out and then hop on a bus to Salmon, ID, where the trip ends. Most guests choose to spend the night in Salmon and we have a non-hosted group dinner at a restaurant in town.

Since the trip begins in Stanley and ends in Salmon, you'll have a couple of transportation options. If flying into Idaho, you can hop on a short flight from the Boise airport to Stanley and then fly from Salmon back to the airport. If driving to Idaho, we can arrange to have your car shuttled to Salmon while you're on the river.

The River

The Middle Fork of the Salmon River flows north from central Idaho to join up with the Main Salmon River, which heads west. The 100 mile trip starts at just under 6,000 ft. and drops elevation to just under 3,000 ft. Your trip will begin in a tight, heavily wooded canyon, which opens up considerably as you paddle down.

The last twenty miles of the Middle Fork journey through Impassable Canyon. This incredible canyon boasts almost vertical rock walls and is inaccessible to drivers or hikers, leaving rafting or kayaking as the only way to take in this incredible sight.

It has a continuous flow, which grows larger as it's fed by the many streams and waterfalls. Most of the rapids are class III, with a few class IV. Since the river is free of dams, the flow varies considerably from year to year, month to month and occasionally day to day. High water trips in late May and June offer more exciting challenges for experienced rafters and kayakers. Families usually prefer to raft in July and August.