Main Salmon Gear Checklist
The Main Salmon River is a float of roughly 80 river miles from Corn Creek to Carey Creek through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, with sandy beaches, Class III and IV rapids and a lottery permit in summer. The Forest Service makes every float group carry a fire pan, a porta-potty, an ash container, a shovel, a bucket and a food strainer. People who floated it carry one large dry bag for camp and a small one for the day, plans for highs in the high nineties and for days of rain, a spare oar, and chairs and ice for cooling off at camp.
What shapes your gear on Main Salmon River
- Distance and days
- Writers disagree on the numbers. One guide counted 83 river miles over six days. A guided trip described roughly 80 miles in six days. A private group measured the take-out at Carey Creek at river mile 80.7 and took eight days with a layover. That group says six to seven days is typical.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog, Wet Planet Whitewater blog and Northwest Rivers Photography
- Permit season and crowds
- Permits are required year-round on the wild section. For June 20 to September 7, float permits come from a computer lottery held in December and January of the year before. The Forest Service says about 7,000 people float the river each summer.
From USDA Forest Service
- Flows people met
- A July trip ran at about 5,100 CFS on the Whitebird gauge and called it low water. A trip that put in near ten thousand CFS saw the level fall slowly over eight days. A June 2009 group met high water, with Motor camp half under water and Barth Hot Springs fully submerged.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog, Northwest Rivers Photography and Wasatch Mountain Club
- Heat and rain
- On a private July trip most days reached the high nineties or beyond 100 degrees. A June 2009 trip had rain on and off for five days. A trip in 1998 met a cold day of side-driving rain and high winds. A stormy night preceded the last morning of one July trip.
From Northwest Rivers Photography, Wasatch Mountain Club and Colorado Kayak Supply blog
- Shuttle: two sources disagree
- One guide calls the shuttle nearly 12 hours in one direction, with shuttle companies charging over $500 per vehicle. A private group estimates 350 to 400 miles of slow dirt road and maybe seven hours.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog and Northwest Rivers Photography
- Camps at Corn Creek
- The river mixes reservable and first-come camps. Reserving one means getting to the Corn Creek ranger station before 9 am on launch day. A June 2009 group found Blackadar Hole already reserved. The ranger also gives an orientation and checkout before launch.
- A rapid that changed
- Sapp Creek was a Class 2 until a mudslide in the summer of 2024 turned it into a Class 3 with a big horizon line, according to a private group. A guided guest's account called it newly washed out and Class III+. The private group notes it is missing from most guidebooks and likely to keep shifting.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog and Wet Planet Whitewater blog
What the agency requires on Main Salmon River
Fire pan and ash container
Every float group and powerboat group on the wild section carries a fire pan and a container for ash.
From USDA Forest Service
A porta-potty
A portable toilet is required gear for floaters and boaters. Leave No Trace and minimum-impact camping apply along the corridor.
From USDA Forest Service
A shovel, a bucket and a food strainer
All three are on the Forest Service required list for the wild section, alongside the fire pan and toilet.
From USDA Forest Service
An Idaho invasive species sticker
Every boat, motorized or not, needs an Idaho Invasive Species Fund sticker displayed before it can launch legally in Idaho. A guide says watercraft are inspected at North Fork, near the Corn Creek ramp.
What hikers carry on Main Salmon River
One big dry bag for camp and a small one for the day
A guide used a 110-liter camping bag with backpack straps for hauling it to the site, and a day bag clipped to the frame that held lunch, sunscreen, extra layers and a basic first aid kit. A guided guest had dry bags supplied, plus a duffel that rode ahead to the take-out so the river pack stayed light.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog and Wet Planet Whitewater blog
A headlamp with spare batteries
A guest on a six-day trip bought a headlamp and extra batteries at North Fork on the way in and used the light every night around camp. A solar lantern for the tent turned out to be optional.
Hats, long sleeves and sunscreen, plus a chair to sit in the river
A private group said sun reflecting off the water made covering up a must on days in the high nineties and above. At each stop they put their chairs in the river first and pulled out ice for drinks, then cooked and set up tents once shade crept up the canyon.
Rain canopies, tents and a tarp over the fire pan
A June 2009 group pitched tents and rain canopies at camp on a night of downpour. A 1998 group sat under a tarp beside a blazing fire pan with hot chocolate after a cold, windy day.
A spare oar for each oar boat
In Chittum one rower washed out and lost an oar, then kept his boat upright with the spare.
A battery pack that doubles as a dry box
A guide strapped one beside the oar seat. It held gear dry, played music for nearly six days and charged several phones.
30 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Main Salmon River
A solar lantern for the tent
The guest who bought one at North Fork called it a nice extra, not a need. The headlamp did the work.
A guidebook-only plan for Sapp Creek
The rapid moved after a mudslide in 2024, and most guidebooks do not cover the new shape. Scout from the bank.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog and Wet Planet Whitewater blog
One fixed camp plan
A June 2009 group lost Blackadar to a reservation, found Motor half flooded and then missed Maxwell Beach in the current. Carry a backup camp for each night.
Too much in the personal bag
A guest admitted overpacking a bit and was glad the supplied duffel could ride to the take-out with the extra.
Gear questions for Main Salmon River
Do you need a permit to float the Main Salmon River?
Yes, year-round on the wild section. Float permits for June 20 to September 7 come from a computer lottery held in December and January of the year before. A private group in this research got theirs through a friend who won the lottery.
What gear does the Forest Service require on the Main Salmon River?
A fire pan, a porta-potty, an ash container, a shovel, a bucket and a food strainer. Every boat also needs an Idaho invasive species sticker.
From USDA Forest Service
How hot does the Main Salmon River get in July?
One private group had mostly high nineties and days over 100 degrees, and said the cold water and the splashes from rapids gave brief relief. Rain can still arrive, as a June 2009 group found over five days and a July group found on its last night.
From Northwest Rivers Photography, Wasatch Mountain Club and Colorado Kayak Supply blog
How long does a Main Salmon River trip take?
Plan six to eight days. Trips in this research ran six days for 83 miles and eight days with a layover. A guided trip covered roughly 80 miles in six days. One group says six to seven days is typical.
From Colorado Kayak Supply blog, Wet Planet Whitewater blog and Northwest Rivers Photography
How do you reserve a campsite on the Main Salmon River?
Some camps can be reserved and some cannot. A guide says to reach the Corn Creek ranger station before 9 am on put-in day to sort out camps with the other groups launching. Arrive at Corn Creek a day early to rig.
Sources
- Water activities, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests · USDA Forest Service · Agency
- Trip Report: Main Salmon · Wasatch Mountain Club, Don Urrizaga · Trip report
- Rafting the Main Fork of the Salmon River · Colorado Kayak Supply blog, Alden Kahn · Blog
- Nowhere I'd rather be · Northwest Rivers Photography · Blog
- A Multi-day Adventure on the Main Salmon River · Wet Planet Whitewater blog, Kali Bennett · Blog