The Idlewild Run on the NF Salmon River is an easily accessed class III/IV run through a beautiful canyon. The run is technical pool-drop at lower flows, has surf, play, and sections that offer long, continuous whitewater at medium and high flows. Because it is higher up in the Salmon River system, this run is often a good option when downstream sections are high. It is suited for all whitewater craft but rafts will want a solid medium flow at minumum (above 4,500 cfs at Somes Bar). Sawyers Bar Road parallels the run but is almost always out-of-sight.
The run starts somewhat slowly below Idlewild Campground where the gradient is low and river flows are less than they will be just a short ways downstream. A couple rapids add some character below the Sawyers Bar Road bridge. Be alert when the river makes its first left bend because wood sometimes piles up on the outside of the bend, narrowing the usable channel significantly. Sometimes there's no wood, sometimes there's a logjam, so keep your eyes open here.
North Russian Creek soon joins on river left and river flows get a good boost here. Watch for the island just downstream. In recent years (2023), the right channel has been clogged with wood and sometimes cables, so consider going left at the island but don't automatically assume it is clean either.
The pace of the run is always faster for the section below the White's Gulch bridge about halfway through the run. The gradient picks up and Whites Gulch gives another significant boost to flows. The pace continues to the upriver end of Sawyers Bar then the gradient slackens as the river cruises by the backside of this historic Gold Rush era town that now gives little indicator of its prominent role in the mining days. Whitewater continues all the way to the take-out on the downriver end of town. Scout the take-out before paddling so you don't paddle past it.
Flows
The flows on this run don't always correlate well to the USGS gage on the Salmon River at Somes Bar, located nearly 40 miles downstream. You may find it higher or lower than you expect; it all depends on rainfall and melt patterns but the Salmon River gage is the best indicator of flow available.
This run is usually in at medium flows between 4,500 and 7,000 cfs on the Somes Bar gage. Flows below 3,500 cfs are low but boatable for kayaks and small inflatables like IKs and packrafts. Flows above 4,500 cfs are amenable to small rafts. It is also at this level and higher that the run begins to pad out more and play features emerge. It doesn't start to feel like high water until 7,500 cfs or more and is boatable, but fast and very continuous, well above that.
Use the public phone at the Idlewild Campground fee station or the public phone at the Sawyers Bar Town Hall to get the latest flow from
Waterline: 1-800-452-1737 and enter 063221 to get the Salmon River at Somes Bar gage reading (use 063492 if you're heading over the mountain to paddle the Scott River next).
Logistics
*Put-in*
The official put-in at
Idlewild Campground can be difficult to find due to the unmarked access trail that is only lightly used. Park near the restroom and public phone located just outside the campground. Look for a trail that departs the parking area to the right of the restroom and continues toward the river, meandering slightly upriver before descending onto a lower level bar that will take you to a tiny cobble bar not far upstream bu tout of soght of the Sawyers Bar Road bridge. If you end up somewhere else upstream, put in there but know that there's rocky rapid at the base of the large river left landslide that you'll need to navigate right away. If you have a campsite in the campground, you can put in there.
*Take-out*
There is only one public river access point in Sawyers Bar and it is on the far downriver end of town near the historic Catholic church, which is not visible from the river. All other access in Sawyers Bar is on private land; please don't trespass as this is an ongoing issue (this includes the bridge and the post office). The public access is actually the nicest place to take out and assures you get all the whitewater available on this run. Park at the the open area that is just upstream of the historic church on Sawyers Bar Road. The unmarked trail to the river is across the road diagonally in the downstream direction. The trail leads through the mine tailings to a nice, sandy beach by a tree house. This is the take-out and it is on public national forest land. It's a good idea to scout the take-out before paddling so you don't paddle past it, which would be easy to do. This is also the put-in for the
Sawyers Bar Run. Download a
PDF map of the Sawyers Bar River Access.
Additional Information
Salmon River Restoration Council's Whitewater Recreation Page - great overview and detail on the whitewater of the Salmon River drainage
Salmon River Hazard Map - map of known hazards in the river and tributaries