Salmon

The Forks of Salmon River Access is located at the 17-mile marker on Salmon River Road, directly across from the historic white schoolhouse in Forks of Salmon. As of April 2025, the dirt access road is marked with a sign. After descending to the flat beside the river, continue driving straight ahead, upstream—this leads to the best access point: a large sandy beach at water level where trailers can be backed to the water's edge. The final stretch may require high clearance. If you’re in a low-clearance vehicle, park and walk the short remaining distance. Do not block the road—this is a popular spot.

Straightforward rapid just below Forks of Salmon River Access. Named for Horn Creek which cascades into the rapid on river left.

Schoolhouse Rapid is on a sweeping left bend in the river channel. Depending on the current configuration of the river bar and island, it may be possible to take either the left or right channels but either way, maneuver to avoid getting pushed into the rocky bank on the right where currents converge.

Long constant gradient rapid that ends with a push toward a rock wall on the left and a boily runout.

Named for Fong Wah Gulch which enters on river left at the top of the rapid, although you may not notice it. The rapid pushes quickly to the right and negotiates a left dogleg bend before handing out a couple holes and waves at the bottom.

Best at flows of 1,100 to 1,200 cfs on the Somes Bar gage, this off-the-map mystery move spot delivers good downtime in the Salmon's famed clear water (wear goggles). A perfect slab of water angles off the rider's right side of a sloped boulder in the middle of the river. With a few spins, riders can get to depths of about 4-8 feet. At flows above ~1,500 cfs, the eddy behind the boulder has a lot of current and seeking downtime here is something of a workout. The feature pretty much disappears above ~1,600 cfs. The only way to access the spot is to paddle the Forks Run down from Forks of Salmon and then continue to take out at Quail Flat or Nordheimer River Access. If flows are good for downtime, there will also be a few bumpy spots on the run but it goes in a glass squirt boat, and there are other fun squirt features along the way.

These are the best surf waves on this run and perhaps the best set of waves on the entire river at the right flows. The first couple of waves can be caught on the fly or accessed from the river left eddies at the very top end of the wave train. The lower waves have eddy access from the right and/or the left. The best flows for wave shape and easy eddy access are between 1,500 and 3,000 cfs. At higher flows, the waves become large and fast at the cost of more difficult eddy access for the top waves but still deliver awesome rides at flows in excess of 6,000 cfs.

The Otter Bar Lodge Kayak School is located on river right here and you'll see their blue-roofed house just upstream of the waves.

Immediately below a high cable line and water pipe over the river. Small rapid with current that aims at the river right wall and has a boily eddy line below.

Short rapid that directs current toward a wall on river right. Large eddy on the left with a current that feeds out into Quail Flat Rapid below.

This long rapid is formed on the upstream end of the cobble bar that extends along Quail Flat. There's often wood anchored into the riverbed near the top of the rapid, so be alert as you approach the entry. The river is accessible near the bottom of the rapid via an unmarked dirt road off Salmon River Road, followed by a short walk.

After the long pool at the lower end of Quail Flat, the river drops steeply over the next cobble bar to a fast chute along the far river left side. At some flows water spills over the bar and adds a cross-current to the chute. The obvious Ali Baba's Cave is on the bottom left and is not a factor for river runners, just a notable scenic feature.

Short rapid that is run down the middle. This is the only area on this run where serpentine rock is present.

This rapid marks the entry to a short microgorge formed at the edge of a granitic pluton. The current pushes on to the river left rock wall before bouncing off to the right and entering the pool below. The river is calm as it flows through the short microgorge.

The river constricts and runs along the river right wall here with a long, boily eddy line and seam to the left. There's a neat eddy alcove on the left at the bottom that often has otters and, sometimes, lamprey ammocoetes.

This rapid is just upstream of the Salmon River Road bridge known as the Crapo Bridge.

Short rapid that is run down the middle. Just downstream of the Crapo Bridge on Salmon River Road.

The river drops over a boulder bar just downstream of the confluence of Crapo Creek, the large creek that enters on the river right. At medium to high flows, this rapid can be smoothly run down the center. At lower flows, the main channel gets rather chunky and the less obvious far left channel may provide the smoothest line, especially for smaller boats capable of navigating its tighter turns. This rapid is easily visible from the road as is the mouth of Crapo Creek and the ruins of bridges washed away in the 1955 and 1964 floods.

At flows lower than 2,000 cfs, this rapid can get a bit narrow and congested with willows on river left so be prepared to aim right to avoid them and duck forward if you need to as you thread the needle between them and the rocks on river right. The take-out at Nordheimer Campground is at the mouth of the creek on river left immediately after this rapid. Don't miss it.

The Nordheimer River Access is at the back of Nordheimer Campground. There is no fee to use the river access. The road descending from the campground to the river access was repaired in 2024 and is currently accessible to all vehicles. A foot trail goes from the info board in the river access parking area to campsite 4 in the campground above, offering a short cut for boaters who want to walk from the river to the campground or vice-versa.