Roller-coaster rapids, languid pools for swimming, and sugar-white sandbars pair a beach vacation with wilderness solitude.
Our wild and scenic river adventure in Idaho began the moment we took off at sunrise from McCall on a 45-minute intrastate flight to Salmon. The single-engine Cessna flew just above forested mountains and saw-toothed peaks in the summer sky the shade of faded denim.
“Flying at 10,000 feet in the Rockies is a unique experience,” Gem Air pilot Jonathan Brady said. “You can see individual trees and rocks in the river, and I can sometimes point out mountain goats.”
Legendary River and Limitless Wilderness
The small town of Salmon is a popular starting point for world-class whitewater rafting trips in the 2.3-million-acre Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness. The largest contiguous and roadless wilderness in the lower 48 states sustains one of the longest untamed rivers on the continent: the Salmon that contains the Main Salmon section renowned as the River of No Return.
