Lower Salmon River
Lower Salmon River Gauge - Whitebird
The Nez Perce Indians called the Salmon River "Natsoh Koos," which means "Chinook Salmon Water," after the fish that once thrived there. Early explorers dubbed it the "River of No Return," due to the difficulties they experienced trying to transport wooden boats upstream through roaring rapids. Whatever it is called, the dynamic Salmon River and the land it nourishes are very special!
The 425-mile waterway 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.
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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.