Trip Logistics

A typical Middle Fork of the Salmon trip covers roughly 100 miles, straight through the heart of a Wilderness Area known as the Frank Church- River of No Return Wilderness. Logistics for on-the-water are similar to any other multi-day trips: you need enough food, water, and the right equipment to last for however long you plan on staying (typically four to eight days). If you are uncertain about on-river logistics, you may want to consider hiring a commercial outfitter for your first time down.

The logistics that seem to go wrong are the off-river logistics. These are the ones involving airplanes, vehicles, shuttles, and schedules. This page will help explain Middle Fork off-river logistics.

Getting to Stanley, Idaho

Stanley is often considered the opening act for a Middle Fork trip. It's actually not essential for you to stop in Stanley (depending on where you are coming from), in fact, in most cases it will be out of the way. However, if you want a nights rest after your drive or flight, stay in Stanley. It is roughly 25 miles from Stanley to the Boundary Creek Rd, putting you within shouting distance of the Middle Fork.

There are two realistic ways of getting to Stanley. First, you can drive. From Boise the drive is about three hours to Stanley. Second, you can fly. There are a few airlines that provide this short flight. We recommend Salmon Air Taxi.

Shuttling Your Vehicle

If you are doing a private trip, chances are you will want to shuttle your vehicle. A shuttle is when your vehicle is taking from point "A" (Boundary Creek) to point "B" (Cache Bar most likely). You can do this shuttle yourself or hire a company to do it for you. Shuttling your own vehicle is time consuming, still costs a lot of money, and is just really painful. Paying someone else to do it is easy, relatively affordable, and painless. Can you guess which option we would recommend?