Idaho Rafting Trips on the Selway River

Overview: The Selway River IS one of the purest, rarest, most exhilarating rivers in the American West. Running this 48-mile river in the heart of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area feels like you've just returned to the Pleistocene Age of 10,000 years ago.  The water is crystal clear and the fishing is superb. The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness is 1,250,000 acres that remains relatively untouched by humans. 75 million years ago a large upward swelling of molten granite broke through the earth's crust and created this part of the North American continent. Since then the forces of geologic change have formed this country into a rugged jumble of steep canyons, mountains and rivers. Early explorers and pioneers went around it. The country is much as it was when Lewis and Clark passed nearby in 1805 and as the Nez Perce Indians saw it when they passed through on their way to hunt buffalo on the Great Plains. Dense stands of pine, fir and cedar trees abound in the wilderness. Large groves of cedar rise over 100 feet right from the river's edge. Deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, black bear, otter, eagles, osprey and owls thrive in this protected area. The Selway River has a tight, constricted streambed. It drops an average of 28 feet per mile. Twice, where large side creeks join the main river, the volume almost doubles. At the halfway point, at Moose Creek, it doubles and drops 125 feet in the next 2.5 miles. This section is called "Moose Juice" - a tribute to the adrenaline producing Class III and IV rapids, back to back, that it contains. Only one trip per day may depart so contact with other groups is usually infrequent and/or brief.  Maximum trip size including crew is just 16.  The rapids are rocky, technical and rated IV+.  The main season is June/early July.  Trips start in Salmon, ID or Missoula, MT.  Most trips are 5-6 days with minimum age of 12 years. Trip prices start at $1700 per person