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126-649: Lyons Ferry State Park is a public recreation area located near the confluence of the Snake and Palouse rivers, seven miles (11 km) northwest of Starbuck , Washington . The state park is on Route 261 , abreast of Lake Herbert G. West , a reservoir on the Snake River created with the construction in the 1960s of the Lower Monumental Dam some 17 miles (27 km) downstream. The park offers facilities for boating, fishing, and swimming. The area

252-611: A Shoshone war party attacked a wagon train in the Boise Valley, and the U.S. Army mounted a counterattack, the Winnas Expedition . The situation became so unstable that Fort Boise was abandoned, and the Army had to escort wagon trains through the area. While early settlers had simply passed through this area on their way to Oregon, gold strikes brought renewed interest in the 1860s. The Army rebuilt Fort Boise further east of

378-584: A few miles before White Bird . The highway splits north to climb White Bird Hill while the river loops northwest and then south to its confluence with the Snake River north of Hells Canyon, fifteen miles (25 km) south of the Washington border and 40 miles (65 km) upstream of Lewiston . Excluding Alaska , the Salmon River is the longest river system contained entirely within

504-524: A large network of canals and pump stations. The Minidoka Project would eventually bring water to a million acres (2,500 km ) of the Magic Valley. During World War II, many Japanese Americans interned at Minidoka were made to work on the project. The Boise Project , which would ultimately water 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) in and around the Boise Valley, was another major early reclamation undertaking. At its completion, Arrowrock Dam (1915) on

630-682: A natural glacial lake enlarged by Jackson Lake Dam . It flows south through the alpine valley of Jackson Hole , which is situated between the Teton Range (to the west) and the Gros Ventre Range . Below the town of Jackson it forms the Snake River Canyon of Wyoming , turns west and crosses into Idaho , where the Palisades Dam forms Palisades Reservoir . From there it flows northwest through Swan Valley to join

756-514: A rapid, forcing their retreat. On the Snake River above Hells Canyon, several steamboats were built at great expense (as manufactured parts such as engines had to be hauled in overland), the first being the Shoshone in 1866. However, running the upper Snake proved unprofitable, due to lack of demand. The owners of Shoshone decided to move her to the lower Snake River, and in April 1870, they made

882-581: A series of massive flood basalt events that engulfed the Columbia Basin and surrounding lands, reshaped the landscape and erased most evidence of the pre-volcanic river channels starting about 17 Ma. Erupting from fissures in the southern Columbia Basin, the first basalt flows pushed the ancient Salmon-Clearwater much further north than its present course. About 12–10 Ma, the Blue Mountains region began to experience uplift, raising

1008-573: A single U.S. state. The Salmon River area has been home to people for at least the last 8,000 years. Much of the area was inhabited by several tribes, including the Nez Perce . The river was considered sacred ground and a rich source of food for the indigenous people of the area, who relied on the abundant salmon species and other wildlife. In August 1805, just after crossing the Continental Divide , Lewis and Clark ventured down

1134-478: A steep grade, was connected three years later. In addition to commerce, the railroad also opened the Snake River region – which just a few years ago had been seen as a remote, rough frontier – to recreation. The Union Pacific heavily promoted tourism in places like Shoshone Falls, Payette Lake and Soda Springs, Idaho . Countering the reputation of southern Idaho as a wasteland, a brochure described Shoshone Falls: "Shoshone differs from every other waterfall in this or

1260-523: A third of the discharge at the mouth. Just two downstream tributaries, the Clearwater and Salmon Rivers, contribute about half of the total flow of the Snake. The 107,500-square-mile (278,000 km ) Snake River watershed drains about 87 percent of the state of Idaho, 18 percent of Washington and 17 percent of Oregon, in addition to small portions of Wyoming, Utah and Nevada . From

1386-404: A year on staples like coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, flour, etc. Buckskin was a true craftsman in his own right forging his own knives, pistols, rifles, kettles, pots, and pans. Buckskin died in 1980 and his cabin at 5 mile bar has been turned into a museum. In the 1860s, placer deposits of gold were found along the river, and a gold rush began. Miners came to the area, causing clashes with

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1512-754: Is 212-foot (65 m) Shoshone Falls , which in the spring flows with such force that 19th-century writers called it the "Niagara of the West". The Snake River continues flowing west, through the C. J. Strike Reservoir where it is joined from the left by the Bruneau River , then through the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area before entering farmland on the western side of Idaho's Treasure Valley . Passing 30 miles (48 km) west of Boise , it crosses briefly into Oregon before turning north to form

1638-728: Is joined from the right by the Clearwater River , its largest tributary by volume. The Snake then turns sharply west to enter Washington. The final stretch of the Snake River flows through steep-sided valleys in the Palouse Hills of southeast Washington. Near Lyons Ferry State Park , it is joined from the left by the Tucannon River , then from the right by the Palouse River , which forms Palouse Falls about 8 miles (13 km) upstream of its confluence with

1764-633: Is managed cooperatively by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which operates the Lyons Ferry Marina. The park bears the name of the Snake River ferry service, which ceased operations in 1968 after more than 100 years of service when it was replaced with the Snake River Bridge . The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began park construction in 1969, then leased

1890-858: Is primarily sagebrush , mixed with wheatgrasses and bunchgrasses . About 30 percent of the watershed is farmland; irrigated farming of potatoes, sugar beets, onions, cereal grains and alfalfa are dominant in the Snake River Plain, while the Palouse Hills of the northwest host mainly dryland wheat and legume production. About 15 percent of the watershed is forested, distributed across two temperate coniferous forest ecoregions : South Central Rockies forests , consisting primarily of Douglas fir , Engelmann spruce , subalpine fir , and lodgepole pine , and North Central Rockies forests , which include mountain hemlock , white spruce , alpine fir and western larch . About 4 percent of

2016-646: Is situated between the Rocky Mountains to the north and east, the Great Basin to the south, and the Blue Mountains and Oregon high desert to the west. The region has a long history of volcanism ; millions of years ago, Columbia River basalts covered vast areas of the western Snake River watershed, while the Snake River Plain was a product of the Yellowstone volcanic hotspot . The river

2142-540: Is still considered important habitat for these fish. The Snake and its tributary, the Salmon River , host the longest sockeye salmon run in the world, stretching 900 miles (1,400 km) from the Pacific to Redfish Lake , Idaho. Since the 1950s, public agencies, tribal governments and private utilities have invested heavily in fishery restoration and hatchery programs, with limited success. The proposed removal of

2268-608: Is very rapid & Sholey water Clear but little timber. The honor didn't last long; by 1810, maps of the area were already referring to "Louis' River" as the Salmon. Clark had thought that the Salmon River was the Snake River, thus he called it the "Westerly fork of the Columbia". The Snake River retained the variant name "Lewis River" or "Lewis Fork" longer than did the Salmon. In the Early to Mid 20th Century other explorers arrived to

2394-817: The Bitterroot Range along the Idaho–Montana border. The Blue Mountains form much of the western boundary of the Snake watershed from southeast Washington down into Oregon. To the south are numerous small isolated mountain ranges of the Basin and Range Province , such as the Independence and Albion Mountains . To the east are more ranges of the Rockies including the Tetons and the Wind River Range ;

2520-462: The Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington. The Hells Canyon Hydroelectric Complex includes the Brownlee , Oxbow and Hells Canyon Dams in the upper reaches of the canyon. Since its construction in 1967, Hells Canyon Dam has been the upriver limit for migrating salmon; in the past, salmon swam as far upriver as Shoshone Falls. Emerging from Hells Canyon Dam, the Snake surges northward through

2646-722: The Cayuse against the Shoshone, Bannock and Northern Paiute, and stopped the latter from expanding their territory towards the Columbia Plateau. Both the Nez Perce and Shoshone acquired horses in the late 1600s or early 1700s, enabling far-reaching trade and hunting expeditions. With horses, the Nez Perce were able to travel east of the Bitterroot Mountains to hunt bison, via the trail over Lolo Pass , which

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2772-621: The Columbia River Basin . Despite abundant, excellent salmon habitat in the Salmon River basin, chinook, steelhead, and sockeye salmon populations have not significantly recovered, despite listings under the federal Endangered Species Act since the mid-1990s. Populations remain at risk in large part because of the negative effects of four federal dams and reservoirs on the lower Snake river, through which both juvenile salmon and returning adults must pass. Many Northwest salmon advocates, commercial & sportfishermen call for removal of

2898-637: The Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer . One of the largest groundwater reserves in the US, the aquifer is founded in porous volcanic rock underneath the plain. It absorbs and stores large volumes of water from the Snake River in the eastern Plain to re-emerge further west as springs in the Snake River Canyon. Water from the lost streams of Idaho , several rivers that disappear underground in the eastern Plain, travels through

3024-499: The Fort Hall Indian Reservation on the Snake River in southeast Idaho. Tribal resistance would continue for years to come. In 1877 the US government attempted to force the remaining Nez Perce onto their reservation, at which point Chief Joseph's band and several others opted to seek refuge elsewhere. After a treacherous crossing of the Snake at Dug Bar, Hells Canyon on May 31, the Nez Perce were pursued by

3150-550: The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area . The Middle Fork is about 110 miles (180 km) long, while the Main Fork is about 81 miles (130 km) in length. The Middle Fork raft trip run ends 7 miles (11 km) prior to the beginning of the Main Fork run; Corn Creek is the start of the Main Fork section of the Salmon River. The South Fork of the Salmon flows through Payette National Forest and enters

3276-519: The Hells Canyon Wilderness , where the majority of the river corridor is accessible only by boat and numerous Class III-IV rapids historically posed a major barrier to navigation. Today, the canyon and the surrounding Hells Canyon National Recreation Area are a popular location for whitewater boating, fishing, horseback riding and backpacking. With the adjacent Seven Devils Mountains rising up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above

3402-540: The Henrys Fork on an alluvial plain near Rexburg . The Henrys Fork is sometimes called the "North Fork" of the Snake River, while the section of the main Snake River above their confluence is sometimes called the "South Fork". Turning southwest, the river begins its long journey across the Snake River Plain, passing through Idaho Falls and receiving the Blackfoot River from the left before entering

3528-546: The Lemhi River at Salmon east of the Lemhi Range. North of Salmon, the river is joined at its North Fork , before turning west into over 200 miles (320 km) of continuous canyons through the Salmon River and Clearwater Mountains – some of the most rugged and isolated terrain in the contiguous United States. Exhibiting upwards of 7,000 feet (2,130 m) of vertical relief, the Salmon River canyons are some of

3654-643: The Lost Trail Pass north of Salmon, Idaho to Tri-Basin Divide south of Afton, Wyoming , the eastern edge of the Snake River watershed follows the Continental Divide . As the Continental Divide also forms the Idaho–Montana border south of Lost Trail Pass, the Snake watershed touches Montana for a long distance, but does not extend into it. The Snake drains by far the largest area of any Columbia River tributary, making up about 40 percent of

3780-655: The Montana Trail providing access to gold strikes in Montana Territory. This crossed the Snake River by the Eagle Rock Ferry and later a bridge which the city of Idaho Falls would soon grow around. As the flow of settlers increased, the Nez Perce and their neighbors the Cayuse and Walla Walla came under pressure to cede portions of their territory. Tensions flared in 1855 after tribes were coerced into relinquishing huge amounts of territory in

3906-516: The North West Company near the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The following year, Mackenzie traveled up the Snake River and reached Boise Valley by making the first recorded river ascent of Hells Canyon. Mackenzie's goal was to bypass the arduous trek over the Blue Mountains. He wrote that "the passage by water is now proved to be safe and practicable for loaded boats, without one single carrying place or portage; therefore,

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4032-483: The Oregon Trail initially shunned the dry and rocky Snake River region, a flood of settlers followed gold discoveries in the 1860s, leading to decades of military conflict and the eventual expulsion of tribes to reservations. At the turn of the 20th century, some of the first large irrigation projects in the western US were developed along the Snake River. South-central Idaho earned the nickname " Magic Valley " with

4158-653: The Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area , to its confluence with the Snake River . Measured at White Bird , its average discharge is 11,060 cubic feet per second (82,700 US gal/s; 313 m /s). The Salmon River is the longest undammed river in the contiguous United States . Settlements located along the Salmon River include Stanley , Clayton , Challis , Salmon , Riggins , and White Bird . Redfish Lake and Little Redfish Lake , which flow into

4284-790: The Sea of Cortez ) and the Yellowstone and upper Missouri Rivers (part of the Mississippi River system which drains to the Gulf of Mexico ). On the north it borders the watersheds of the Clark Fork and Spokane Rivers , both part of the Columbia River system. To the northwest it borders several other tributary watersheds of the Columbia River, including those of the John Day and Umatilla Rivers . Fifty-four named tributaries of

4410-575: The Treaty of Walla Walla . In retaliation for Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe 's defeat at the 1858 Battle of Pine Creek , a force led by Col. George Wright entered the lower Snake River country in 1859 and constructed Fort Taylor at the confluence of the Tucannon River below present-day Starbuck, Washington . Over several months Wright fought the natives along the river, killing their horses and destroying stored food. The sternwheeler Colonel Wright

4536-490: The 1855 treaty. The US government sided with the settlers, and pressured some Nez Perce leaders into signing a second treaty which shrank their reservation by 90 percent. Many Nez Perce including Chief Joseph 's band refused to leave, calling the new treaty the "thief treaty". In March 1863, the Idaho Territory was split from Oregon, and Lewiston became its capital. More than 60,000 prospectors and others entered

4662-413: The 20-mile (32 km)-long American Falls Reservoir , formed by American Falls Dam . From American Falls it turns west, flowing through Minidoka Dam and Milner Dam , where large volumes of water are diverted for irrigation. Below Milner Dam it enters the Snake River Canyon of Idaho , where the river narrows, forming rapids and waterfalls. In the 70-mile (110 km) stretch between Milner Dam and

4788-462: The Army for over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) east, through Yellowstone before turning north through Montana, fighting several battles along the way. On October 5, 1877, Chief Joseph surrendered to US forces. thus ending the Nez Perce War . The survivors were distributed to various reservations across the western US. In 1878, an uprising occurred in response to overcrowding and food shortages at

4914-481: The Blue Mountains to bypass Hells Canyon and reach the lower Snake River. After the hazardous experience, Hunt gave it the name "Mad River". A group led by Robert Stuart , a member of the Hunt expedition, returned eastward across the plain the following year. The route they mapped would eventually become that section of the Oregon Trail . In 1818 Donald Mackenzie and Alexander Ross established Fort Nez Percés for

5040-768: The Boise Project. Palisades Dam was built in 1956, providing flood control and irrigation for the Snake River above Idaho Falls, an area which the Bureau of Reclamation had previously overlooked. Near Rexburg, the Teton Dam was also built to provide water for this area. In 1976, the Teton Dam failed catastrophically, killing eleven people and causing at least $ 400 million in damage along the Henrys Fork and Snake Rivers. The political fallout from this disaster marked

5166-495: The Boise River was the tallest dam in the world, and its construction process was an important prototype for future federal projects such as Hoover Dam . Starting around the 1950s, farmers made heavy use of the Snake River aquifer, bringing large new areas into production. Surface water development also increased with projects such as Cascade Dam (1948) and Anderson Ranch Dam (1950), which provided additional storage for

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5292-559: The Boise Valley, and a new city quickly grew around the U.S. Army post at Fort Boise. With Hells Canyon impractical for river navigation, interest grew in connecting the area by rail. By 1884, the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company (later integrated into Union Pacific ) had connected Portland, Oregon , to the Union Pacific line at Granger, Wyoming , via Huntington and Pocatello . Boise, initially bypassed due to

5418-541: The Carey Act were in Idaho, and almost all of that utilized Snake River water. I. B. Perrine , who homesteaded near Shoshone Falls in the 1880s, went on to develop one of the most successful Carey Act projects. In 1900 Perrine filed a claim for water from the Snake River, and backed by significant private capital, oversaw the construction of Milner Dam and a canal system to irrigate some 250,000 acres (100,000 ha) of

5544-640: The Columbia Basin about 10.5 Ma, the Elephant Mountain basalt eruption forced the Salmon-Clearwater River into roughly its present course through southeast Washington. By 8.5 Ma the Salmon-Clearwater was established in the Columbia River's modern path through Wallula Gap , although the Columbia itself still flowed somewhere to the west. The last of the Columbia basalt flows occurred around 6 Ma; by then,

5670-500: The Fort Hall Reservation, leading to the Bannock War . The US army defeated the Bannock and their Paiute allies and proceeded to restrict travel in and out of the reservation. While Lewiston was now well connected by river, travel to Boise and other points upstream on the Snake River remained difficult due to the formidable obstacle of Hells Canyon. In 1865, Thomas Stump attempted to pilot the Colonel Wright up Hells Canyon, making it 80 miles (130 km) upriver before hitting rocks in

5796-409: The Lewis and Clark expedition would later follow in order to reach the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The river's modern name comes from a misunderstanding of the Shoshone Tribal Sign in PISL . The Plains Indians referred to the Shoshone people as "Snake People", while the Shoshone are believed to have referred to themselves as "People of the River of Many Fish". However, the Shoshone sign for "salmon"

5922-483: The Lewiston Valley by 1863. Many new steamboats were pressed into service, including the Spray , Cascadilla , Tenino , Okanogan , and Nez Perce Chief . The river's rapids posed a major navigation hazard, and from November to April the river was generally too low for ships. Despite these challenges, the water transport of freight and passengers was greatly profitable. Up river, the Shoshone and other tribes were also becoming increasingly wary of settlers; in 1854

6048-400: The Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor dams to address survival problems. As of November 2015, controversy continues in NW Politics, public discourse, and in federal court, where federal salmon recovery plans are under legal challenge. Download coordinates as: The United States Geological Survey operates four stream gauge water level monitoring stations on

6174-464: The Nez Perce on their ancestral tribal lands. Many historic and present day mines (including dredging operations) can be seen while traveling along the river. Several national forests and Sawtooth National Recreation Area provide for numerous recreation opportunities within the river's watershed. Two segments (the Middle Fork and a section of the main Salmon River, known as the Main Fork) are protected as National Wild and Scenic Rivers . The Middle Fork

6300-407: The Nez Perces, who they visited again on their return trip in 1806. Other explorers quickly followed, many of them fur trappers who began scouting the upper Snake River watershed for beaver. John Colter , a former member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, explored the Jackson Hole area in 1808. In 1810, Andrew Henry explored and named the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. He established Fort Henry,

6426-412: The Oregon Trail reached the Snake River at Fort Hall, Idaho , and stayed south of the river until Three Island Crossing near modern-day Glenns Ferry . Here the trail diverged, with the northern route fording the river to reach the HBC trading post at Fort Boise while the southern route continued into what is now the eastern Oregon desert. While the northern route passed through more favorable country,

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6552-403: The Oregon–Idaho border. It is joined by several major tributaries in quick succession – the Boise River from the right, the Owyhee and Malheur Rivers from the left, the Payette and Weiser Rivers from the right near Ontario, Oregon , then the Powder and Burnt Rivers from the left. Continuing north, the river enters Hells Canyon , which slices between the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and

6678-421: The Salmon River and ultimately stayed. These early explorers included Frank Lance, Francis, Hank the Hermit, and most well known and storied Buckskin Bill. Sylvan Ambrose Hart (Buckskin Bill) was one of the last Mountain Men to inhabit the Salmon River Canyon at 5 Mile Bar. He arrived to the canyon in/around 1928 from the Oklahoma Territory. For nearly 50 years he lived at 5 Mile Bar and spent less than 50 dollars

6804-414: The Salmon River at what is now Salmon, Idaho , naming the stream "Lewis's River". Thwarted by the river's rapids, they were forced to cross the Bitterroot Mountains via the Nez Perce trail at Lolo Pass. After paddling down the Kooskooskee (Clearwater River), they reached the junction with the Snake and camped there with the Nez Perces on October 10, 1805. They correctly surmised that the river coming from

6930-414: The Salmon River, but found it to be too rough to be navigable. Clark wrote: ... I shall in justice to Capt. Lewis who was the first white man ever on this fork of the Columbia Call this Louis's river. ... The Westerly fork of the Columbia River [the present Salmon River] is double the size of the Easterley fork [the present Lemhi River] & below those forks the river is ... 100 yards [90 m] wide, it

7056-403: The Sawtooth Range at over 9,200 feet (2,800 m) in elevation, several miles northwest of Norton Peak . For the first thirty miles (50 km), it flows north through the Sawtooth Valley , then turns east at Stanley , receiving the Yankee Fork shortly below that point and the East Fork further downstream. The river then flows northeast, receiving the Pahsimeroi River at Ellis and then

7182-428: The Snake River Plain and the Palouse, though the majority of the Snake River Plain is Bureau of Land Management land. The Snake River watershed borders several other major North American watersheds. To the south it borders the endorheic Great Basin , including the area draining to Utah's Great Salt Lake . To the east it borders the watersheds of the Green River (part of the Colorado River system which drains to

7308-416: The Snake River Plain between 600 and 1500 CE. By the time of first European contact, the Snake River watershed was populated by several Native American tribes. The territory of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) stretched across what is now north-central Idaho, southeast Washington and northeast Oregon, including much of the lower Snake River below Hells Canyon, most of the Clearwater and Grande Ronde River, and

7434-401: The Snake River Plain formed as the North American Plate moved westward over the Yellowstone hotspot. Upwelling magma caused the continental crust to rise, forming highlands in a similar fashion to the modern Yellowstone plateau and leaving behind enormous basalt flows in its wake. As the hotspot migrated east relative to the North American Plate, the land behind it collapsed and sank, creating

7560-399: The Snake River Plain. Completed in 1905, the project was an immediate success. The rapid transformation of the barren landscape into productive farmland led to the moniker " Magic Valley ", and led to massive growth of the city of Twin Falls. During certain times of the year, almost all the Snake River's flow was diverted at Milner Dam, and since then, Shoshone Falls has regularly run dry in

7686-507: The Snake River at Ice Harbor Dam since 1962. The mean annual discharge for the 61-year period between 1962 and 2023 was 49,580 cubic feet per second (1,404 m /s), with a maximum recorded daily mean of 305,000 cu ft/s (8,600 m /s) on June 19, 1974, and a minimum daily mean of 2,000 cu ft/s (57 m /s) on November 29, 1961. A historic June 1894 flood at the Ice Harbor site reached an estimated peak of 409,000 cu ft/s (11,600 m /s). In terms of discharge,

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7812-458: The Snake River drain more than 100 square miles (260 km ). Of these, the twelve listed below drain an area greater than 2,000 square miles (5,200 km ). The present-day course of the Snake River was pieced together over millions of years from several formerly disconnected drainage systems. Much of what would become the Pacific Northwest lay under shallow seas until it was uplifted starting about 60 million years ago (Ma). The outlet of

7938-427: The Snake River is the twelfth largest river in the United States, and it contributes about one-fifth of the Columbia's total outflow into the Pacific. The volume of the Snake River peaks in late spring and early summer as snow melts in the Rocky Mountains, and reaches its lowest point in the fall. Despite the numerous dams regulating its flow, its discharge into the Columbia remains highly seasonal. At Ice Harbor Dam,

8064-411: The Snake River posed a formidable barrier; during high water, many travelers were forced to take the hot, dry southern route, or risk drowning. Travelers going via Fort Boise had to cross the river one more time to rejoin the trail heading west. A ferry existed at Fort Boise since at least 1843; the Three Island crossing was also replaced by a ferry in 1869. A new wave of travelers came in the 1860s with

8190-477: The Snake River took several thousand salmon in one afternoon by means of spears." To the east and upriver of the falls, many Shoshone and Bannock lived in more nomadic groups, traveling to the falls during the spring salmon run then gathering camas bulbs and hunting bison through the summer and autumn months. The Snake River at Hells Canyon formed a natural dividing line between the Nez Perce and Shoshone, who considered each other enemies. The Nez Perce allied with

8316-607: The Snake River watershed derives from snowmelt. Jackson Hole, Wyoming experiences an alpine climate with an average of 30 in (760 mm) of rain and 252 in (6,400 mm) of snow. The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 13 °F (−11 °C), and the hottest is July at 57.7 °F (14.3 °C). Twin Falls experiences a semi-arid climate , with about 9 in (230 mm) of rain and 13 in (330 mm) of snow. Monthly mean temperatures range from 29.4 °F (−1.4 °C) in January to 73.1 °F (22.8 °C) in July. The Columbia Basin around

8442-430: The Snake empties into the Columbia River at Burbank, Washington , southeast of the Tri-Cities . The confluence is located on Lake Wallula , the impoundment behind McNary Dam on the Columbia, 341 feet (104 m) above sea level. From there, the Columbia River flows another 325 miles (523 km) west to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has measured the discharge , or flow rate, of

8568-440: The Snake headwaters was sculpted by multiple Ice Age glaciations. Starting about 200,000 years ago, the Buffalo glaciation filled Jackson Hole to a depth of 2,000 feet (610 m). Ice flowed down the Snake River Canyon all the way to Idaho. The Bull Lake glaciation, about 80,000–35,000 years ago, and the Pinedale glaciation, ending about 15,000 years ago, were much smaller and did not fill the entire valley. These glaciations carved

8694-586: The Snake, Clearwater and Salmon Rivers. Clans gathered at communal fishing sites starting about May or June. Fishing moved from the lower rivers to higher elevation streams throughout the summer, while fall-run fish were preserved for winter use. Shoshones in the western part of the Snake River Plain also depended heavily on the salmon run. At Shoshone Falls and the smaller cataracts downstream, fishing platforms, temporary brush weirs, spears, baskets and fish traps were employed at large scale. Captain Benjamin Bonneville in 1832 observed that "Indians at Salmon Falls on

8820-402: The Snake. The Lower Snake River Project consists of four dams equipped with navigation locks – Lower Granite , Little Goose , Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor – which have transformed the once fast-flowing lower Snake River into a series of lakes, enabling heavy barges to travel between the Columbia River and the Port of Lewiston. About 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Ice Harbor Dam,

8946-430: The Tetons, and a graben valley developed between the Hoback and Teton fault zones, creating Jackson Hole. As the valley dropped, water filled it to create Lake Teewinot, which drained east into the Green River – Colorado River system. About 1 Ma, the Snake River captured the Jackson Hole watershed, draining Lake Teewinot and finally connecting the modern-day Snake headwaters to the rest of the river. This landscape around

9072-562: The Wild and Scenic Main Fork at Mackay Bar. The Main Fork raft trip ends about 25 miles (40 km) east of Riggins , either at Vinegar Creek or Carey Creek, marking the beginning of the Lower Salmon rafting section. Boating companies offer both single and multiple day trips on the river. The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is known as one of the best catch and release fly fisheries in

9198-509: The ancestral Columbia River to the Pacific was established about 40 Ma. By about 17 Ma, the "Salmon-Clearwater River", or the modern day lower Snake River, flowed west into the Columbia and on to the Pacific. Another ancient river system drained what is now the western Snake River Plain. Some geologists propose that this flowed to the Columbia on a course south of the present-day Blue Mountains, while others propose it drained towards Northern California . The Columbia River basalts ,

9324-453: The aquifer to reach the Snake River, as does excess irrigation water absorbed into the ground. The major spring complexes at American Falls and Thousand Springs (near Hagerman, Idaho ) keep the river flowing steadily even in the driest of summers. At King Hill , about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Twin Falls, water levels remain about 10,000 cu ft/s (280 m /s) for most of

9450-417: The basalt layers to form a plateau. From about 11–9 Ma, crustal deformation related to the Yellowstone hotspot caused the western half of the Snake River Plain to sink, creating a graben -type valley between parallel fault zones to the northeast and southwest. The outlet of the ancient Snake River was blocked, and water accumulated to form the vast Lake Idaho starting about 10 Ma. The eastern half of

9576-458: The confluence with the Malad River near Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument , the Snake River descends a total of 1,300 feet (400 m) over a series of cataracts and rapids, chief of which include Caldron Linn , Twin , Shoshone , Pillar , Auger, and Salmon Falls . Idaho Power operates several small hydroelectric plants along this stretch of the river. The largest single drop

9702-553: The creation of the Reclamation Service (now the Bureau of Reclamation ) in 1902, the federal government began to play a more direct role in water resources development. The expansive Minidoka Project was the first federal reclamation project in Idaho. Starting with Minidoka Dam in 1906, the project would grow over the next few decades to include major reservoirs at Jackson Lake , American Falls and Island Park , and

9828-546: The deepest canyons in the continental United States, which at roughly 7,000 feet (2,130 m) of vertical relief, is deeper than the Grand Canyon . Outdoor Lodges dot the main canyon of the Salmon River from Salmon, Idaho to Riggins, Idaho. Often the only way to access these lodges is either by motorized boats, rafting trips, hiking, and even some isolated airstrips. Both the Middle Fork and Main Fork travel through

9954-604: The deepest in the U.S., surpassing the Grand Canyon and second only to the Snake River's Hells Canyon , nearby on the Idaho– Oregon border. Here, the river is joined by its two largest tributaries, the Middle Fork and South Fork . Ten miles (16 km) downstream (west) of its confluence with the Middle Fork, the Salmon River becomes the dividing line for the two time zones in Idaho: Mountain Time to

10080-441: The distinctive peaks of the Tetons into their present form and scoured lake basins in the valley floor, including modern-day Jackson Lake. While the Snake River course beyond Jackson Hole was not directly impacted by glaciations, its landscape was dramatically changed by Ice Age flooding events. About 30,000 years ago, the climate of western North America was much wetter than today. The Great Salt Lake Basin filled with water to form

10206-605: The doubtful question is set at rest forever. Yet from the force of the current and the frequency of rapids, it may still be advisable, and perhaps preferable, to continue the land transport." Canadian fur trappers with the British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) reached the Snake River watershed in 1819. As American fur trappers kept coming to the region, the HBC ordered the Canadians to kill as many beavers as they could, under

10332-505: The easily farmable land was soon developed, and they could not raise the capital for further expansion. In addition, low water by late summer posed a challenge to farmers, and the irrigation companies could not afford to build dams to provide water storage. With many private irrigation companies verging on insolvency, the federal government began to explore programs assisting agricultural development. The 1894 Carey Act granted large tracts of dry federal land to western states, which then sold

10458-471: The end of large new irrigation developments not only for the Snake River system, but for the Bureau of Reclamation as a whole. Agriculture has significantly impacted water quality in the Snake River upstream of Hells Canyon. Water removed from the river for irrigation becomes contaminated with chemical fertilizers and manure, and percolates into the Snake River Aquifer. Pollutants collect in

10584-517: The entire Columbia River watershed. Compared with the Columbia above their confluence, the Snake River is about 180 miles (290 km) longer and drains a similarly sized area, though the Columbia carries more than twice the volume of water. The Snake River watershed is very mountainous, with the northern two-thirds of it occupied by vast mountain ranges of the Rockies, primarily the Salmon River Mountains of central Idaho and

10710-507: The first American fur trading post west of the Rocky Mountains, but abandoned it after that year's harsh winter. The 1811 Pacific Fur Company expedition led by Wilson Price Hunt attempted to find a route from Henrys Fork to the Columbia River. After suffering a wreck in the falls of the Snake River Canyon, they took an overland route through the Snake River Plain, through what is now the Boise Valley or Treasure Valley, then crossed

10836-479: The first successful river descent of Hells Canyon, a harrowing ride that skirted disaster several times. In 1895 the steamboat Norma , which had been built to haul copper ore on the Snake River above Hells Canyon, also made the run under similar circumstances. In the 1870s, Boise (to which Idaho's capital was moved in 1866) expanded rapidly as growth slowed in Lewiston. Gold drew more than 25,000 prospectors to

10962-473: The four lower Snake River dams for fish passage is a significant ongoing policy debate in the Pacific Northwest. The Snake River begins on Two Oceans Plateau near the southern border of Yellowstone National Park , about 9,200 feet (2,800 m) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming . From there, it flows west then south into Grand Teton National Park , where it feeds Jackson Lake ,

11088-522: The geographic depression of the eastern Snake River Plain. The gradual eastward migration of this topographic high had the effect of pushing the Continental Divide to the east. Prior to the formation of the eastern Snake River Plain, the drainage area east of about Arco, Idaho – the modern headwaters and upper course of the Snake River – flowed towards the Atlantic Ocean via the Mississippi River system. The migrating Continental Divide tilted

11214-457: The groundwater and eventually enter the river via spring flows. Excess nitrogen, phosphorus and bacterial loads occur in many locations across southern Idaho. Large algae blooms are a recurring issue in summer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established water quality guidelines for Snake River flows entering Hells Canyon, which cover bacteria, mercury, excess nutrients, pesticides, sediments and water temperature. Implementation of

11340-553: The guidelines include best management practices for agriculture and forestry, and regular water quality monitoring. Salmon River (Idaho) The Salmon River , also known as the " River of No Return ", is a river located in the U.S. state of Idaho in the western United States . It flows for 425 miles (685 km) through central Idaho, draining a rugged, thinly populated watershed of 14,000 square miles (36,000 km ). The river drops more than 7,000 feet (2,100 m) from its headwaters, near Galena Summit above

11466-577: The hemp weed". Another Nez Perce name for the Snake River was Pikúunen , specifically referring to the stretch upstream of the Clearwater confluence. The Wanapum and Walla Walla people called the lower Snake River below the Clearwater Naxíyam Wána . The Shoshone called the river Yampapah , after the yampah plant that grew profusely along its banks. Downriver of Shoshone Falls, salmon and their cousins such as steelhead trout – anadromous fish which spend their adult lives in

11592-402: The land to farmers and solicited private investors to organize irrigation districts. Investors would then recoup their capital by selling water rights to farmers. Irrigation plans were reviewed by engineers, who determined the economic feasibility of the projects. Although the Carey Act saw little success in most states, it greatly benefited Idaho. Some 60 percent of all lands developed under

11718-457: The landscape of the Snake River Plain, creating the Snake River Canyon and its waterfalls, vast boulder fields, cliffs and coulees . The floodwaters then emptied through Hells Canyon; however, most evidence of their effects on the lower Snake River was erased by the much larger Missoula Floods that engulfed the Columbia Basin during the same period. Caused by the repeated collapse of an ice dam in western Montana, dozens of floods overflowed into

11844-462: The largest of several tribes that lived along the river by the turn of the 19th century. In 1805, while searching for a route from the eastern US to the Pacific, Lewis and Clark became the first non-natives to see the river. Fur trappers explored more of the watershed, and drove beaver to near extinction as the Americans and British vied for control of Oregon Territory . Although travelers on

11970-610: The latter includes Gannett Peak , the highest point in the Snake River basin at 13,816 feet (4,211 m). Surface volcanic features – such as lava fields, cones , and thermal springs – are replete in the southern part of the Snake watershed, from Craters of the Moon National Monument northeast of Twin Falls to the Yellowstone caldera, while ancient lava flows of the Columbia River basalts underlie

12096-526: The lower Salmon River. The Northern Shoshone and the Bannock , a Northern Paiute group that became culturally associated with the Shoshone, occupied an area stretching from the Snake River Plain east to the Rocky Mountains and south towards the Great Basin, as well as valleys of the upper Salmon River. A Nez Perce name for the river was Kimooenim or variations thereof, meaning "the stream/place of

12222-481: The lower Snake River from the north, backing water as far upstream as Lewiston. The formerly west-flowing Palouse River was rerouted to flow south into the Snake River, forming Palouse Falls, whose outsized plunge pool attests to the force of the floods. Starting around the end of the last glacial period, the Snake River Plain was inhabited by hunter-gatherers of the ancient Clovis (10000–9000 BCE), Folsom (9000–8000 BCE) and Plano (8600–5800 BCE) cultures. Along

12348-617: The lower Snake River in Washington, the Marmes Rockshelter – flooded in 1968 after the construction of Lower Monumental Dam – has yielded archeological evidence of continuous human occupation from about 9000 BCE until about 1300 CE. Starting about 2200 BCE, people in the western Snake River basin began to adopt a semi-sedentary lifestyle, with an increased reliance on fish (primarily salmon) and food preservation and storage. Shoshoni -speaking peoples arrived in

12474-430: The massive Lake Bonneville , about the size of modern-day Lake Michigan . About 15,000 years ago the lip of Red Rock Pass south of present-day Pocatello, Idaho abruptly collapsed, releasing a tremendous volume of water from Lake Bonneville into the Snake River Plain. The peak of the flood was about 500 times bigger than the largest recorded flood of the Snake at Idaho Falls in modern times. The flood completely altered

12600-565: The mean monthly discharge is highest in May and June at over 100,000 cu ft/s (2,800 m /s), and lowest in September and October at less than 25,000 cu ft/s (710 m /s). Mean annual discharge also fluctuates significantly, from a record high of 86,240 cu ft/s (2,442 m /s) in 1965, to a low of 27,890 cu ft/s (790 m /s) in 1997. In southern Idaho, Snake River flows are significantly influenced by

12726-470: The mining industry and the difficulty of importing goods set off an agricultural boom in the Boise Valley. By the 1880s, settlers also came to the upper Snake River north of Idaho Falls, where fertile, sandy soils presented ideal conditions for the iconic russet potato ("Idaho potato"). The dry climate made irrigation necessary, and numerous private irrigation companies were formed. Private canal systems around Boise and Idaho Falls saw some success, but all

12852-407: The nation. Other recreational activities along the river include camping, hiking and mountain biking. The Salmon River historically produced 45% percent of all the steelhead (ocean-going rainbow trout ) and 45 percent of all the spring and summer chinook salmon in the entire Columbia River Basin. The Salmon River basin contains most (up to 70 percent) of the remaining salmon and steelhead habitat in

12978-450: The ocean, returning to fresh water to spawn – were a key food source for indigenous peoples, and were of great cultural importance. Rituals such as the first salmon ceremony were widely observed along the Columbia, Snake and other Northwest rivers, and so were strict catch limits, such that a healthy number of salmon would survive to reach their natal streams. The Nez Perce had more than seventy permanent villages among their fishing grounds on

13104-521: The old country. It is its lonely grandeur that impresses one so deeply; all of the other historic places have the adjuncts of civilization, and one is almost overshadowed by a city while in their presence." Most travelers on the Oregon Trail regarded the arid Snake River Plain as an obstacle to be crossed, not a land to be settled. This began to change with the Boise gold strikes, where the demands of

13230-518: The original site in 1863. A military detachment was stationed there to quell any further violence; however, tensions continued to increase, and more wagon trains and mining parties were attacked. Starting in 1864, the Snake War was fought across much of southern Idaho, with numerous battles between the U.S. Army and the Shoshone, Bannock and Paiute. By 1868, exhausted after years of fighting, Chief Pocatello and many others surrendered and relocated to

13356-536: The outflow carved Hells Canyon, emptying Lake Idaho and integrating the upper Snake and Salmon-Clearwater into a single river system. The Teton Range, a defining topographic feature of the modern Snake River headwaters, first began to rise about 10 Ma as the Teton Fault began to move, displacing the mountain block upward as the surrounding land dropped. About 2 Ma, the Hoback Fault formed east of

13482-400: The present-day confluence of the Columbia River and Salmon-Clearwater had been established, with the combined flow draining through Wallula Gap. About 2.5 Ma, Lake Idaho reached a maximum elevation of 3,600 feet (1,100 m) above modern sea level, and overflowed northward into the Salmon-Clearwater drainage near present-day Huntington, Oregon . Over a period of about two million years,

13608-478: The rapid transformation of desert into farmland. Numerous hydroelectric dams were also constructed, and four navigation dams on its lower section created a shipping channel to Lewiston, Idaho – the furthest inland seaport on the West Coast. While dam construction, commercial fishing and other human activities have greatly reduced anadromous fish populations since the late 19th century, the Snake River watershed

13734-524: The rationale that "if there are no beavers, there will be no reason for the Yanks to come," and even if the Americans did ultimately gain control, the HBC would already have taken all the profit. Focused primarily on the upper Snake River region, the "fur desert" policy was carried out in nine expeditions from about 1824–1831 and aimed to decrease the Americans' economic interest in the Oregon Country ,

13860-593: The regional slope such that drainage flowed west into Lake Idaho, whose water levels saw a significant increase about 4.5 Ma. The Snake River Plain drainage system continued to expand east, towards what is now Yellowstone National Park. During this expansion, the Snake also captured the Bear River , which was only rerouted towards its modern outlet in the Great Salt Lake Basin about 50,000 or 60,000 years ago by lava flows in southeast Idaho. In

13986-606: The river via Redfish Lake Creek, are the termini of the longest Pacific sockeye salmon migration in North America. The lower half of the river provides the time zone boundary for the state, with northern Idaho on Pacific Time and the rest of the state on Mountain Time . The Salmon River originates from and flows through the mountains of central and eastern Idaho ( Lemhi Range , Sawtooth , Salmon River Mountains , Clearwater and Bitterroot Range ). The main stem rises in

14112-425: The river's mouth also has a semi-arid climate, with about 10 in (250 mm) of rain and 5 in (130 mm) of snow as measured at Ice Harbor Dam. January is the coldest month with a mean temperature of 34.3 °F (1.3 °C), and July is the hottest month at 74.6 °F (23.7 °C). Semi-arid shrubland and rangeland covers about 50 percent of the Snake River watershed. Natural vegetation

14238-661: The river, Hells Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in North America, almost one-third deeper than the Grand Canyon . Within the canyon it is joined from the left by the Imnaha River , then from the right by its longest tributary, the Salmon River . Further north, it begins to form the Idaho– Washington border, and receives the Grande Ronde River from the left. From the end of Hells Canyon at Asotin, Washington , it flows north to Lewiston, Idaho , where it

14364-431: The site to the state in 1971. It operated as a state park from 1971 until 2002, when the lease was relinquished by the state due to budget constraints. The Army Corps of Engineers operated the property as Lyons Ferry Park and Lyons Ferry Marina until 2015, when it returned to Washington State Park status with the signing of a new lease. Snake River The river's watershed , which drains parts of six U.S. states ,

14490-439: The south was a continuation of "Lewis's" or Salmon River. The expedition journals note the Nez Perce called it Kimooenim , although William Clark later erased mentions of the name to replace with "Lewis's". Six days later they reached the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, after noting a number of dangerous rapids as well as many native fishing sites on the lower Snake. The expedition established friendly relations with

14616-492: The south, Pacific Time to the north, bisecting the state at approximately 45½ degrees north latitude. The river turns abruptly north at the confluence with the Little Salmon River at Riggins , about 87 miles (140 km) above its mouth. From there the river flows almost due north, with U.S. Route 95 crossing the river on the "Time Zone Bridge" just north of Riggins, and then travels on its east bank until

14742-490: The summer. The Idaho State Historical Society writes that "Perrine’s venture contrasted remarkably with private canal company failures that led to congressional provision for federal reclamation projects after 1902. As a rare successful example of state supervised private irrigation development provided for in [the Carey Act] of 1894, Milner Dam and its canal system have national significance in agricultural history." With

14868-501: The vast region of the Pacific Northwest centering on modern-day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. By the time the Americans annexed Oregon Territory in 1848, beaver were nearly extirpated across much of the Rocky Mountains. Starting in the 1840s, the Oregon Trail became well established, and thousands of settlers passed through the Snake River Plain on their way to the Willamette Valley . Coming from Wyoming,

14994-403: The watershed is barren desert, and only about 1 percent is urbanized. Most of the Snake River watershed is public land, with the U.S. Forest Service managing the Nez Perce , Clearwater , Bitterroot , Umatilla , Wallowa–Whitman , Payette , Boise , Salmon–Challis , Sawtooth , Caribou–Targhee and Bridger–Teton National Forests that cover much of the northern and eastern parts of

15120-455: The watershed. The forests contain numerous designated wilderness areas, including the Sawtooth , Selway–Bitterroot , Frank Church-River of No Return , Gospel Hump , Hells Canyon , Teton and Gros Ventre . National Park Service land includes Craters of the Moon National Monument and Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Large areas of privately owned farmland are concentrated in

15246-495: The western part of the watershed. The Snake River Plain is the largest area without mountains, but it still features rugged terrain, being crisscrossed by canyons formed by the Snake River and its tributaries. Due to the rain shadow effect of the Cascades , precipitation as a whole is scant, averaging 14 inches (360 mm) across the entire watershed. Most precipitation falls at higher elevations as snow, thus, most runoff in

15372-421: The year, increasing about 20 percent during snowmelt and decreasing about 20 percent with late summer irrigation diversions. Despite its great length, the Snake River accumulates most of its water in the lower one-fourth of its course. By the time it reaches Hells Canyon Dam , 247 miles (398 km) from the mouth, the mean annual discharge is about 19,000 cu ft/s (540 m /s) – just over

15498-479: Was commissioned to haul supplies up the Snake River to Fort Taylor. Captained by veteran Oregon river pilot Len White, the Wright was the first steamboat to run on the Snake River and the Columbia above The Dalles . Two years later, Elias D. Pierce discovered gold to the east on Nez Perce treaty land. As thousands of fortune seekers flocked to the area, the city of Lewiston was founded in 1861, in violation of

15624-411: Was further altered by catastrophic flooding in the most recent Ice Age , which created such features as the Snake River Canyon and Shoshone Falls . The Snake River once hosted some of the largest North American runs of salmon and other anadromous fish . For thousands of years, salmon fishing has played a central role in the culture and diet of indigenous peoples. The Shoshone and Nez Perce were

15750-403: Was one of the original eight rivers designated Wild and Scenic in 1968, and is often considered the "crown jewel" of the Wild and Scenic system. The Salmon is a popular destination for whitewater kayaking , canoeing , and rafting . The canyons of the Salmon allow for magnificent views of the complex geology of the region. The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area includes one of

15876-574: Was the same or similar to the Plains Indian common sign for "snake." The English name for the river was likely derived from this interpretation of the hand gesture, although it is uncertain when the name was first used. The first Euro-Americans to reach the Snake River watershed were the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who in August 1805 crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass and descended to

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