Fall River
2. Concrete CCC Bridge to Kirkham Bridge(Lower Run)
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 8.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Fall River Nr Squirrel Id |
| Flow Rate as of 28 minutes | 226 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | June 11, 2025 |
At moderate flows the Fall River is a fun run and an excellent river to build your skills on. Smooth boulders create countless nice eddies, small boofs, and surf holes, allowing paddlers to challenge themselves with Class IV moves in relatively low risk Class II and III rapids.
The run is mostly long, large, class 3+ wave trains at higher flows, and technical Class III boulder rapids at medium and lower flows. The longest rapid, half-mile, has a hole hidden at the end (look for a large basalt cliff on your right and a slight river left bend). There is a diversion dam that you may portage about 2/3 way down river, or you can run it just look for wood and if the river is too high it can recirculate. You can see the last major drop by a rock that sticks up right in the middle of the river, also a surprise at the bottom of a wave train. Run left (preferred) or right to avoid pourovers.
Each spring flushing flows between the upper diversion dam and the powerhouse are required by the hydropower license to maintain 1,450 cfs for the last three weeks in May or the first three weeks in June. This is in place to ensure the removal of accumulated sediments in the Fall River riverbed downstream of the diversion structure. There is also a requirement each year during the July 4 weekend to provide a minimum flow of 650 cfs in the Fall River downstream of the diversion structure during daytime hours for recreation purposes.
See also G. Amaral, Idaho: the Whitewater State (Watershed, 1992).
Lat/Longitude data are very approximate.
...Directions: To the takeout: drive 4.5 miles east on Hwy 47 from Ashton ID. Turn right (south) and drive 1.5 miles to Kirkham bridge over Falls River. This is the take-out for kayaks only. If you are in a raft go to 3800 East. Take out on the left side of the river above the bridge and drag your boat up the rocks with some friends. yes its not ideal for rafts but it way easier
The land on the river left downstream side of the bridge is owned by Freemont County, and is the only public land at the put in.
This is where the fun starts. This is a long wave train, with plenty of holes and rocks to play around with, At higher flows this would not be a plesant place to swim as the current gets pretty fast in here.
This is a diversion dam, there has been wood at the bottom of this in the past, I typically scout from the left. shore. There are many line options, at 1600 cfs, boaters typically go down the right side.
Hike out on river left just after the bridge, park on river right, respect private property. Typical kayaker take-out.
Good public take out on County land, river left, upstream of the bridge.
Jun 11, 2025
At this flow from the put in to the take out at 3800 took 2 hours. That is without stopping to scout the dam. At this level all sides of the dam ran well. However, I would not run the right side in a raft at this level since less water goes over that side and the cement there is rough. Kayaks ran it great. It must have been a low water year since it was not running at 1400 as required by the permit. That being said it was still glorius and splashy
Jan 21, 2024
Jun 14, 2021
Ran on 6/1/2021 at 2400 in a kayak super fun and pushy. A swim would be a long one at these flows. Rafts and kayak both do equally well at these levels. Ran multiple times and did left side of dam. At these flows there is no recirculation on the left side just a big fun wave to punch through. Actually, as flows go up the left side gets safer while the right side starts to recirculate.
