Salmon River (Idaho)

Salmon River
Salmon River in Sawtooth NRA
Nickname: River of No Return
Country	United States
State	Idaho
Tributaries
- left	Yankee Fork, Panther Creek, (Middle Fork Salmon River)
- right	East Fork Salmon River, Pahsimeroi River, Lemhi River, North Fork Salmon River
Cities	Salmon, Challis
Source	Sawtooth Range
- elevation	9,220 ft (2,810 m)
- coordinates	43°47′48″N 114°46′36″W
Mouth	Snake River
- elevation	903 ft (275 m)
- coordinates	45°51′23″N 116°47′37″W
Length	425 mi (684 km)
Basin	14,000 sq mi (36,260 km2)
Discharge	for White Bird
- average	11,060 cu ft/s (313 m3/s)
- max	129,000 cu ft/s (3,653 m3/s)
- min	1,000 cu ft/s (28 m3/s)
Map of the Salmon River, showing its tributary Middle Fork Salmon River, and its connection to the Columbia River via the Snake River
Map of the Salmon River watershed with Little Salmon, South Fork, Middle Fork and Lemhi Rivers

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 (684 km) through central Idaho, draining 14,000 square miles (36,260 km²) and dropping more than 7,000 feet (2,134 m) between its headwaters, near Galena Summit above the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and its confluence with the Snake River. Its discharge is 11,060 cubic feet (313 m³) per second.. Cities located along the Salmon River include Stanley, Clayton, Challis, Salmon, Riggins, and White Bird. Redfish Lake and Little Redfish Lake near Stanley flow into the river via Redfish Lake Creek.

Course

The headwaters of the Salmon River are in the mountains of central and eastern Idaho (Lemhi Range, Sawtooth, Salmon River Mountains, Clearwater and Bitterroot Range). The main fork of the Salmon is joined by the Yankee Fork, East Fork, Pahsimeroi, Lemhi, North Fork, Middle Fork, South Fork, and Little Salmon Rivers before emptying into the Snake River on the Oregon-Idaho border, north of Hells Canyon, 15 miles (24 km) south of Washington and 40 miles (64 km) south of Lewiston. The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is one of the premier recreational rafting and kayaking rivers in the world.

Ten miles (16 km) downstream (west) 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.

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 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, Lewis and Clark ventured down the Salmon River, but found it to be too rough to be navigable. Clark wrote:

Columbia River Basin

"...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 (including dredging operations) can be seen while traveling along the river.

Recreation

Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains
from Lower Stanley

Several national forests and Sawtooth National Recreation Area provide for numerous recreation opportunities within the river's watershed. Two segments (the Middle Fork and a section of the main Salmon River) are protected as National Wild and Scenic Rivers. Today, the Salmon is a popular destination for whitewater kayaking, canoeing or rafting. Both the Middle Fork and Main Fork travels 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 flows through Payette National Forest and enters the Main Fork rafting/fishing section at Mackay Bar. The Main Fork raft trip ends about 25 miles east of the city of Riggins, Idaho, either at Vinegar Creek or Carey Creek. Thus marking the beginning of the Lower Salmon rafting trips. Single and multiple day trips on the river are available and offer beautiful views of wildlife and scenery. The river canyon allows for magnificent views of the complex geology of the region. The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is known as one of the best catch and release fly fisheries in the nation. While traveling through the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area, you enter the second deepest canyon in the continental U.S. Deeper than the Grand Canyon. It is roughly at 7,000 feet in depth.

Campgrounds along the river are available and offer stunning views of the river. Hiking and mountain biking are popular in the area.

Wildlife

See also: List of animals of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and List of birds of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area

The Salmon River historically produced 45% percent of all the steelhead (salmon) and 45 percent of all the spring and summer chinook salmon in the entire Columbia River Basin. The Salmon River basin contains most (up to 70 percent) 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.

USGS stations in the Salmon River watershed as of August 12, 2012

Stream	Location	Site number	Coordinates	Drainage area	Max discharge	Min discharge	Website
Salmon River	Clayton, ID	13296500	44°16′06″N 114°43′58″W	807 sq mi (2,090 km2)	10,400 cu ft/s (290 m3/s)	160 cu ft/s (4.5 m3/s)	[1]
Salmon River	Salmon, ID	13302500	45°11′01″N 113°53′43″W	3,737 sq mi (9,680 km2)	17,700 cu ft/s (500 m3/s)	242 cu ft/s (6.9 m3/s)	[2]
Salmon River	Shoup, ID	13307000	45°19′21″N 114°26′24″W	6,239 sq mi (16,160 km2)	25,700 cu ft/s (730 m3/s)	600 cu ft/s (17 m3/s)	[3]
Salmon River	White Bird, ID	13317000	45°45′01″N 116°19′26″W	13,421 sq mi (34,760 km2)	130,000 cu ft/s (3,700 m3/s)	1,000 cu ft/s (28 m3/s)	[4]
Valley Creek	Stanley, ID	13295000	44°13′21″N 114°55′52″W	147 sq mi (380 km2)	2,210 cu ft/s (63 m3/s)	34 cu ft/s (0.96 m3/s)	[5]
Yankee Fork Salmon River	Clayton, ID	13296000	44°16′44″N 114°44′02″W	189 sq mi (490 km2)	3,360 cu ft/s (95 m3/s)	10 cu ft/s (0.28 m3/s)	[6]
Thompson Creek	Clayton, ID	13297330	44°16′13″N 114°31′00″W	29.1 sq mi (75 km2)	442 cu ft/s (12.5 m3/s)	1.0 cu ft/s (0.028 m3/s)	[7]
Squaw Creek	Clayton, ID	13297355	44°17′27″N 114°28′18″W	71.6 sq mi (185 km2)	755 cu ft/s (21.4 m3/s)	3.3 cu ft/s (0.093 m3/s)	[8]
Pahsimeroi River	Ellis, ID	13302005	44°41′30″N 114°02′49″W	830 sq mi (2,100 km2)	710 cu ft/s (20 m3/s)	87 cu ft/s (2.5 m3/s)	[9]
Lemhi River	Lemhi, ID	13305000	44°56′24″N 113°38′21″W	897 sq mi (2,320 km2)	2,430 cu ft/s (69 m3/s)	22 cu ft/s (0.62 m3/s)	[10]
Lemhi River	Salmon, ID	13305310	45°07′58″N 113°47′56″W	1,216 sq mi (3,150 km2)	2,920 cu ft/s (83 m3/s)	0.75 cu ft/s (0.021 m3/s)	[11]
Blackbird Creek	Cobalt, ID	13306336	45°05′29″N 114°17′53″W	Unknown	100 cu ft/s (2.8 m3/s)	2 cu ft/s (0.057 m3/s)	[12]
Panther Creek	Cobalt, ID	13306370	45°05′23″N 114°14′12″W	Unknown	1,100 cu ft/s (31 m3/s)	3.5 cu ft/s (0.099 m3/s)	[13]
Napias Creek	Leesburg, ID	13306385	45°12′20″N 114°08′02″W	41.1 sq mi (106 km2)	1,020 cu ft/s (29 m3/s)	3.5 cu ft/s (0.099 m3/s)	[14]
Middle Fork Salmon River	Yellow Pine, ID	13309229	44°43′18″N 115°00′59″W	1,042 sq mi (2,700 km2)	20,900 cu ft/s (590 m3/s)	190 cu ft/s (5.4 m3/s)	[15]
Middle Fork Salmon River	Shoup, ID	13310199	45°17′37″N 114°35′47″W	2,876 sq mi (7,450 km2)	28,600 cu ft/s (810 m3/s)	349 cu ft/s (9.9 m3/s)	[16]
South Fork Salmon River	Krassel Ranger Station	13310700	44°59′13″N 115°43′30″W	330 sq mi (850 km2)	9,710 cu ft/s (275 m3/s)	38 cu ft/s (1.1 m3/s)	[17]
East Fork Salmon River	Stibnite, ID	13311000	44°54′21″N 115°19′42″W	19.3 sq mi (50 km2)	394 cu ft/s (11.2 m3/s)	2.0 cu ft/s (0.057 m3/s)	[18]
Sugar Creek	Stibnite, ID	13311450	44°56′10.9″N 115°20′14.0″W	Unknown	7.9 cu ft/s (0.22 m3/s)	6.9 cu ft/s (0.20 m3/s)	[19]
Johnson Creek	Yellow Pine, ID	13313000	44°57′42″N 115°30′00″W	218 sq mi (560 km2)	6,250 cu ft/s (177 m3/s)	21 cu ft/s (0.59 m3/s)	[20]
Little Salmon River	Riggins, ID	13316500	45°24′47″N 116°19′31″W	576 sq mi (1,490 km2)	12,600 cu ft/s (360 m3/s)	54 cu ft/s (1.5 m3/s)	[21]

Photo gallery

• 

  Salmon River, north of Riggins

• 

  Breached Sunbeam Dam on the Salmon

• 

  Yankee Fork of the Salmon

• 

  Yankee Fork Gold Dredge

• 

  Salmon River Canyon 1945

See also

• List of Idaho rivers
• List of longest streams of Idaho

External links

• Salmon River - Salmon River, Info Hub
• Visit Idaho.org - Idaho Rivers
• Salmon River (National Wild and Scenic Rivers site)
• Middle Fork of the Salmon (National Wild and Scenic Rivers site)