Snake

Lat/Longitude data are very approximate. I will take my GPS out and get accurate fixes before the season starts.

Thanks to Idaho Power for providing excelent facilities at the put in for this run! Before the Milner Power Plant went in, there was no road here, and no way to run this stretch by raft.

The road to the take out is steep, rough, and unpaved, but if you have resonable ground clearance you can make it. If you are not sure, take a look before you start down the hill. Scout the take out at Star Falls, and make sure you know where to go! Be sure to take a look at the falls! Follow the trail to the south from the first parking area once you get to the bottom of the canyon. Then continue on the road to the east upstream to where the river makes a tight left turn. Take out there! You DO NOT want to go past the left turn. Running Star Falls is almost certan to be fatal.

On the other hand, one of the members of the Hunt Party (the first white group to explore the Snake River valley) made it over Star Falls in a dugout canoe. His partner died, and the group decided to try an overland route past the canyon as the rapids get very wild below Star Falls. The next stretch, Murtaugh is sometimes called the Colorado River of Idaho because of the big water it contains.

You can see an Idaho Historical Site marker along Highway 30 by south enterance of the town of Murtaugh about this event. The part I like best is where they say there is no road to Caludron Linn. We know different, but don't tell anyone... This is the last undeveloped major water fall on the Snake River, and we don't want it developed.

At lower water this stretch starts off with about a mile of class II bang, and ends up with four of five miles of flat water, with two small rapids to break up the monotony. This is a relaxing run, once you are past the first mi

...