The Middlefork of the Salmon River
One of the premium Idaho river rafting experiences is rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River through the heart of Idaho's back country in the River of No Return Wilderness Area. We float 100 miles in six days, dropping 3000 feet in elevation. The gradient of nearly 30 feet per mile offers very good, technical, white-water. The river grows as it drops, and the canyon changes from lodgepole pine forest to ponderosa pine, to mixed timber and open grassy slopes and finally, in Impassable Canyon, dramatic sheer granite cliffs, rising to peaks six to seven thousand feet above the river. This is one of the deepest canyons in Idaho. Rafting is the only access to this part of the Middle Fork.
Rafting the Middle Fork!
There are several hot springs along the Middle Fork. We stop at some of them, and sometimes camp nearby. We see deer in the upper sections of the river, bighorn sheep in the lower. The trip begins at nearly 6000 feet elevation, so temperatures are cooler than the Main or Lower Salmon River. Rafting, wildlife and scenery are generally comparable to the Main Salmon, though the scenery does change with the loss of elevation. There are more hot springs along the Middle Fork than the Main Salmon River. Rafting is the primary access; no power boats are allowed on the Middle Fork.
The Middle Fork canyon and its tributaries was the home of a Shoshone Indian subgroup called the Sheepeaters, because of the importance of bighorn sheep in their diet. The last Indian war in the northwest, in 1879, resulted in their removal. We stop at some of the numerous panels of pictographs, house pits, and hunting pits along the Middle Fork.
The Sheepeater War occurred very early in the exploration period of this wilderness area. Many site names stem from the campaign. There was much less gold along the Middle Fork than along the Main Salmon, so there was little subsistence mining here. The area was prospected, with little result. In the early 1900s, though, there were several attempts at raising livestock in the middle portion of the Middle Fork. Access was difficult, limited to horses in the early days. There were a few people tough enough to live along the Middle Fork, and we sometimes stop at remnants of their cabins. Rapids and difficult access to the upper portion of the river restricted boating essentially until after WWll, and even then boating was recreational; the Middle Fork never had the freighting of supplies like the Main Salmon.
Why Raft the Middlefork?
The Middle Fork of the Salmon is often considered the best of Idaho river rafting trips. Group size on the Middle Fork is usually larger than on the Main Salmon River. Rafting groups average about 16 passengers, and can be as large as 24. On pre-season or post-season trips, however, group size is smaller, and Aggipah can arrange charter trips then. For those who prefer to break up five nights of camping, we can arrange for you to spend a night or two in a truly enjoyable riverside lodge with sheets and showers. There is very good catch-and-release trout fishing available while rafting Middle Fork Salmon, especially later in the season after the water drops. We can provide special fishing trips using McKenzie drift boats or two-person rubber boats (see Fishing section).
