Join us on our Main Salmon River Women’s Rafting Adventure for a 8-day adventure that includes 6-unforgettable days rafting 80 miles of the scenic Main Salmon River. This adventure combines exciting class III+ whitewater rafting with slower opportunities to enjoy the scenery of towering granite canyons, swimming in calm clear water from the shores of sandy white sand beaches, a soak in hot springs, short hiking trips, and chances to spot wildlife like birds, bighorn sheep, eagles, and bears.

The Salmon River canyon is a remote, unique place with a lot of history, with many of the famous settlers being women. Your expert rafting guides will break up your time on the water with guided hikes to prehistorical sites with pictographs, and visits to homesteads to help connect you with the human story of the river, and the notable women of the Great Frontier. 

The adventure begins in Salmon, Idaho. In Salmon, we will continue to get to know each other, meet our river guides, and explore some of the historical spots of the cute mountain town. After a night at a hotel, we will embark on an adventure on the Main Salmon River passing through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. There will be four days of camping, and one night at a remote river lodge while rafting. The take out is in Riggins, we will overnight in McCall on day 7.  The trip will end in McCall, ID.

A rafting adventure for any woman.

Any active and healthy woman who can swim and be comfortable in and around water can join this trip.  Participants can choose their ride style from active paddler taking instructions from the guide, or to passive passengers who kick back to enjoy the sites. Those who want more of a challenge can learn to navigate rapids with an inflatable kayak. 

The Main Salmon River is a perfect place to bring together women of all ages and backgrounds for a multi day rafting trip. The river is suitable for families, so this is a great trip for women of all ages and skill levels. Paddlers can be experienced rafters or newcomers who make this their introductory dip to test the waters.

About River Camping

Be prepared for the best night’s sleep you have had in a long time. This trip includes 4 nights riverside camping with one night at a remote river lodge.  We use our Dutch ovens every day, and are skilled in tailoring our menu to fit special dietary needs. During camping, your guides will provide you with hardy, healthy and hot breakfasts and multi-course dinners. We have all the good stuff, and it’s prepared on-site with a huge variety of fresh, often times local, produce, meats, seafood, breads, and regional dinner wines. Lunches are typically sack lunches. Tents and sleeping pads are provided. Sleeping bags can be rented for an additional fee. 

Transportation to Salmon is not included... 

Once the trips is confirmed, transportation options will be provided and Green Edventures will assist you with making arrangements.  Transportation to Salmon has been left out of the package price because some people feel more comfortable driving. 

This trips starts in Salmon, ID and ends in McCall, Idaho. These places are about 300 miles ( 5 hours) by car from each other and make logistics a bit more complicated.

Here are transfer estimates and subject to change:

If you drive to Salmon, you can have your vehicle moved to the take-out point by "River Shuttle", for about $350-$450 plus gas (It's a long shuttle), or you can fly back to Salmon from McCall after the trip for $195/person. Note: If you are using a rental vehicle, apparently Hertz is the only rental company that will allow a shuttle driver to move your vehicle.

 If you come from the west, you may want to go first to McCall and fly to Salmon before the trip for $195. 

If you fly to Boise:

Fly GemAir charter flight from Boise to Salmon for $225/person, then after the trip a flight from McCall to Boise for about $180, or if you book the two flights together, $395.  Rates are with Gem Air (208-756-7382).   https://gemairflights.com/main-salmon-round-trip/ 

 Throughout the river trip, our group will have our own boats and guides. We may be sharing communal dining with other rafters on a trip with our partners Aggipah River Trips. We will have our own tables and camp area, too. 

The plan is to have one night at a remote river lodge to break up camping on the river. If the lodge fills before we reach critical mass, the package price will be reduced by $175 per person and we will camp for 5 nights on the river instead of 4 nights..

Critical Mass:

We need 8 participants by July 5th to confirm the trip. The group is limited to 10-11 pax. If we are unable to reach critical mass to confirm the trip, you will get a full refund.

Solo travelers:

Solo travelers will have their own tent during river camping,, and share a room with a roommate for 3 nights at the hotels & lodge. There is a single supplement option add on  for those who want a single room at the hotels & lodge as well for +$485. 

 From our Partners Aggipah River Trips:

All of you are aware of the Covid 19 issue. There is a lot of uncertainty, contradiction, and an uncertain degree of risk. We plan to operate trips, following best practices as we know them. We will need cooperation from our passengers, for the benefit of you, other passengers, and our crew. Our camp routine will be a little different this year. We have always been careful about camp sanitation, but we will step that up this year.

  We are not requiring mask-wearing because it’s a safety hazard on the river—if someone fell in, that could be bad news. People are, of course, welcome to bring and wear their own masks if they prefer. Participants will be given a buff-type face covering.. They are welcome to wear them as masks, sun protectors, whatever. 

-Ideally, you would get tested a couple of days before the trip. 

-We expect you to monitor your temperature for several days before the trip. 100.4 degrees seems to be the alarm threshold.  

-Other symptoms of concern include a new cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, muscle ache, and loss of smell. 

-If you have been in contact with anyone who was infected within the last month, we request a note of non-contagion from a physician before you join a trip. 

-Bring a personal water bottle, and a personal washable mask. We can clean masks in the evening in camp. 

-You may want to bring your personal thermometer. We plan to check temperatures on your arrival.

-Frequent hand washing will be expected, especially after coughing, nose blowing, etc. 

-Hand washing before meals, toilet use, etc… will be mandatory.

-Expect to use the same life jacket, tent, and pad for the duration of the trip(this is one of our standard practices, nothing new).

-Minimize personal contact—handshaking, etc. 

-Try to maintain space. 

-Be careful to use a barrier when coughing. 

-Family groups may want to minimize mixing by using separate tables and boats. 

-Boatmen will serve food and dispense water from the water jugs. 

-We expect to sanitize canned beverages before putting them in our ice chests, and we expect boatmen only to access those ice chests. Do not expect to get your own drinks from our ice chest. 

-Some of you will be running your own boats, with your own coolers, so drink access will be easier for you.

-If you notice any covid symptoms during the trip, let us know. We will begin isolation and possibly evacuation. 

-If you develop symptoms at home after the trip, we need to know.

Meet  Time TBA at Hotel (Stagecoach or similar).

Check in. We will drop our bags off at the hotel and stretch our legs with a walk downtown. Followed by a visit to the Sacajawea Interpretive Site & Cultural Center and hike the trails.

5pm: Meet at Lemhi County River History Museum to meet our partner and lead guide of Aggipah River Trips, Stephanie Ellis. During this orientation, participants will each receive waterproof duffel bags, and instruction on how to use them. Stephanie will go over the expedition plan, and answer questions about the upcoming adventure. 

Group dinner at a restaurant in historic downtown Salmon. Overnight at the Stagecoach Inn or Similar. (D)

 After breakfast we take a two-hour bus ride to put-in at Corn Creek. Here, your guide will go through pre-trip orientation. Expect to be on the river by 11am.

Our introduction to the Main Salmon starts with exciting rapids such as Killum, Gunbarrel, Alder Creek, Rainier, Devil’s Teeth. Around 1pm, we will take a break and enjoy a riverside lunch with locally sourced ingredients. Your guide will lead you to some native American pictographs and give you insight about what life was like for people who lived in the canyon 12,000 years ago.

After lunch, more river rafting fun, and then arrive in camp about 4:30pm. 7:30pm Dinner. Relax with new friends. (BLD)

 6:15am Rise in the morning to smell of alpine air and freshly brewed coffee followed by a hearty breakfast prepared by your guides.

Break camp, and head downstream for another day in paradise. Expect big rapids like Black Creek, Hancock and Bailey with stretches of tranquil water allowing you to look for wildlife as you gaze at mountain views. A few excursions including a soak in a hot spring will break up the day on the water. 

Arrive at camp about 4:30pm. Dinner. Swap stories by the campfire. (BLD)

 Sip coffee riverside. Stretch. Feel the freedom of wilderness, the flow of the river, and connecting with nature. The routine of river life is settling in. You decide you may never leave.

Today you will have a mix of adrenaline pumping whitewater excitement. We’ll run 5-Mile, Split Rock, Big Mallard, Elkhorn and Growler Rapids,  with stops for informative land excursions to learn about women who came to the Salmon River and never left.

Mid-morning meet with a local woman caretaker who has made her home along the Salmon River for 30+ years. You will learn what it takes to live year-round in one of the most remote parts of the US including a visit to her self-sustaining garden.

Afternoon, we will make an interpretive stop at another homestead. Learn how Francis Zaunmiller Wisner spent 46 years on the Salmon River, outliving two husbands and being self-sufficient. Overnight at a remote river lodge. Enjoy a hot shower and other creature comforts. Dinner. (BLD)

 Lower in the canyon, the thick forest gives way to steep granite cliffs and the glass-like pools provide a place for play and reflection.

The water conditions ahead make it a good day for inflatable kayaking! You will experience smooth water intermixed with class II+ whitewater. Stop at Painter Mine where we will learn about gold mining in the Salmon River canyon. Lunch and informative session at Buckskin Bill’s homestead. Here, learn about how Buckskin made his living along the river, and visit with Barbra, who has been caretaking and living full-time at the place since 1983.

More river time through afternoon, arrive in camp around 4:30pm.  Dinner. A billion-star show starts at sunset. Do not forget to look up.

Expect another good inflatable kayaking morning with smooth water intermixed with small rapids. Visit Polly Bemis’s homestead, a Chinese immigrant who began her life in Idaho in a mining camp in the late 1800s and moved to the Salmon River in the late 1890s. She lived here until her death in 1933, several of those later years alone.

Lunch shortly afterwards, then the rest of the day spent on the river. Arrive in camp around 4:30pm. Celebrate the last night on the river. There will be lots of she-nanigians to reminisce about over the past few days together. Belly-laughs guaranteed.

 Enjoy a leisurely morning. Depart camp at 9am. 

Fun morning with three of the largest rapids on the trip, Chittam, Vinegar Creek, Carey Falls. Arrive at Carey Creek take-out boat ramp around 11:30. Transfer by bus to Riggins with a box lunch. Transfer to McCall. Overnight in McCall. Group farewell dinner. (BLD) 

Breakfast and departure.

Plan for flights from Boise to depart after 1pm.