[Bwick84]

We were up for the Riggins Rodeo last year and ran a small section of the Little Salmon. We just ran the section from the rest stop down to Riggins. We had a blast. I would consider it continuous class III rapids at the time.

Does anyone know how far up you can put in with a raft? We will most likely be in our Super Puma again. I know there's some waterfalls way up high, but how far can you go up without getting in too much trouble? Any problematic sections to worry about?

We will be up for the rodeo again this year and would appreciate any info.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Riverwild]

There is a decent falls here
45.204899, -116.311926

It has a name but I can't remember it. Below there is mostly good to go from what I understand.

 

[carvedog]

I don't speak GPS but that sounds like Amphitheater Falls which is an awesome feature to look at.

 

[Bwick84]

Thanks for the coordinates. I'm pretty sure that's the first falls I saw from the road when I drove by a couple weeks ago.

Does anyone know of a good spot to put in?

 

[Elvez]

Try up near the Hazard Creek confluence. I know there are some pullouts up around there with places clear enough to launch a paddle raft.
Most of the character is downstream of the rest stop though. Above that, there are some very crazy braided cobble areas that change every year.

 

[Conundrum]

Those coordinates are Ampitheater which is the biggest rapid other than the drops. It’s below Hazard. You can put in pretty much anywhere below the top big drops. Depending on flow you’ll in fairly continuous 3-4.

 

[Bwick84]

So is Amphitheater runnable? It looks like the Hazard Creek confluence is up above that.

 

[Conundrum]

I can’t answer if you should run it but people do run it. Worth taking a look at it and if you don’t like what you see, put in below it. You can see it from the road.

 

[idaho_h2o]

Smokey Boulder to first bridge has ~6 cl 5ish drops to the first bridge. First three are easy to scout from the road and the biggest. Below the bridge to Hazard confluence is not worth floating due to blowouts/ braids/ logs.

Small rafts can put on at the Hazard/ Hard Ck confluence if you want a little creeky fun. From Hazard down to the rest stop is cl 3-4. This section has some big waves and holes at high water but watch out at near peak flows, I've had my frame hit under one of the low bridges in this section (fast approach/ no eddies).

From the rest stop to town is mostly 2-3.

In general, due to the character, more water is better.

 

[Bwick84]

I figured I would post a reply to this in case anyone finds this thread in the future and wants more info on the Little Salmon.

We got a late start after the parade and stick horse races with the kids so we didn't go up as far as we wanted. We started at Pollock Rd and finished at Riggins. Flows were around 1,800 CFS and we had a great time. I would say the biggest consequence would have been the big hole to the left at around 14:40 in the video below. Hard to tell from the video but not only is the hole fairly massive, there was a sharp rock at the peak of the wave. That was right after Rapid River Rd.

So if anyone is interested in a video of what it looks like here it is. It's long because I wasn't really sure what to cut out since it's pretty constant whitewater. The whole run I think took less than an hour and a half so we were kind of bummed we didn't start up higher. We were R2ing a Super Puma.

https://vimeo.com/334801575

 

[dirtbagkayaker]

That's one of the top 10 dankest nastiest rivers in Idaho. You can almost see the cow urine in the water. Especially at hazard creek... I gag just thinking about it. I'd rather drink the milk from the wild cow milking content than float the little! There are soooo many better runs that wont blow your intestines out. JMHO...

 

[Bwick84]

I usually drink my beer but to each their own.