This roadless stretch of Idaho has hot springs, ghost towns, and no way back upriver

It’s Idaho’s wildest backyard

The Salmon-Challis National Forest covers more than 4. 3 million acres in east-central Idaho, making it the fifth-largest national forest in the lower 48 states.

It stretches across parts of five counties, and its land runs from towering peaks to deep canyons to alpine lakes you have to hike days to reach. The Shoshone and Nez Perce lived here for thousands of years before Lewis and Clark passed through in the early 1800s.

Fur trappers and miners followed, but the land never really gave in. What they left behind is still out there waiting for you.

Two forests became one in 1908

The story of this place starts in 1906, when the federal government set aside the Salmon River Forest Reserve.

Two years later, it became the Salmon National Forest, and the Challis National Forest came into being the same year. The two eventually merged into what you see on the map today.

Long before any of that, the Shoshone and Nez Perce called this land home. Then came the fur trappers and the miners chasing silver and gold through the 1800s.

Each group left its mark, and you can still find traces of all of them across the forest.

The wilderness with no roads and one bold name

Inside the forest sits 1.3 million acres of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, part of a 2.3-million-acre wild area that ranks as the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower 48.

Congress set it aside in 1980 and renamed it in 1984 for Idaho Sen. Frank Church. No roads cut through it. You get in by foot, horseback, river, or small plane landing on a dirt strip.

About 2,616 miles of trails cross the wilderness, and the Salmon River earned its nickname because early boaters could float down but never paddle back up through the rapids.

Borah Peak will test your nerves at 12,662 feet

Idaho’s tallest mountain stands at 12,662 feet in the Lost River Range on the forest’s eastern side.

The standard route climbs about 5,200 feet over roughly four miles, and partway up, you hit a section called Chicken-Out Ridge. The name fits.

It’s an exposed scramble along a narrow spine of rock that turns back a lot of hikers every year.

In 1983, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck near the peak and actually pushed it higher, reshaping the land around it. If you make the summit, you’ve earned every inch of that view.

100 rapids over 100 miles on the Middle Fork

The Middle Fork of the Salmon River drops about 3,000 feet over its 100-mile course and sends you through more than 100 rapids, ranging from Class I to Class IV.

The river cuts through the heart of the Frank Church Wilderness, passing granite canyons, thick forest, and open grassland.

Most people run it on a five- to six-day float trip, and you need a permit through a competitive lottery to get a launch date.

Fly anglers come for the native Westslope cutthroat trout, protected under a catch-and-release policy since 1973.

Soak in 105-degree pools after a two-mile hike

Goldbug Hot Springs sits along Highway 93 between Challis and Salmon.

The trail runs about four miles round trip with roughly 1,000 feet of elevation gain, and the first quarter mile crosses private land on a public easement.

At the top, a chain of about six natural pools spills down the hillside, fed by small waterfalls. Water temperatures in the main pools sit around 100 to 105 degrees.

Below the main springs, a hidden cave pool waits where a waterfall pours through an opening in the rock above. You hear it before you find it.

Drive 161 miles of canyon, sage and bighorn sheep

The Salmon River Scenic Byway runs 161 miles from Lost Trail Pass on the Montana border down to Stanley, following U.S. Highway 93 and Idaho Highway 75 through the center of the forest.

You pass through tight canyons, sagebrush valleys, and forested gorges with mountains filling every gap in the windshield. Between Challis and Salmon, keep your eyes on the roadside for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

The route connects Lewis and Clark historic sites, ghost towns, and natural hot springs, and you can fuel up and grab food in Stanley, Challis, Salmon, and North Fork.

Walk through ghost towns from Idaho’s mining boom

The Land of the Yankee Fork State Park keeps several ghost towns from Idaho’s 1800s mining days open to visitors.

Bayhorse started as a silver mining town in 1877, once held about 300 people, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and opened to the public in 2009.

Down the road, Custer grew around a gold strike in 1878, and you can still walk through restored buildings like the old saloon and schoolhouse.

A 988-ton gold dredge sits nearby, the same barge that pulled an estimated $1 million in gold and silver from the creek bed through 1952. A 98-mile loop drive connects all of it.

Granite peaks and alpine lakes deep in the backcountry

The Bighorn Crags sit deep inside the Frank Church Wilderness, a cluster of granite peaks surrounded by dozens of clear alpine lakes. Getting there takes commitment.

The main trailhead at Crags Campground sits at about 8,400 feet, and you reach it by driving roughly 60 miles of unpaved forest road from Salmon or Challis.

Once you arrive, trails lead to places like Ship Island Lake and the Terrace Lakes. The remote location keeps the crowds thin, so you might hike a full day and see more mountain goats than people.

Elk herds, wolves and one of the longest salmon runs on Earth

This forest supports one of the largest Rocky Mountain elk herds found on any national forest in the country.

Bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule deer, moose, and black bears all live here, and in the more remote stretches, wolves, mountain lions, wolverines, and lynx roam.

Birdwatchers can spot bald eagles, golden eagles, ospreys, red-tailed hawks, and great horned owls.

On the East Fork of the Salmon River, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout spawn after one of the longest migration routes in the world.

The forest’s vast roadless areas rank among the most important wildlife habitats in the lower 48.

Idaho’s newest wilderness has hoodoos and almost no visitors

Congress designated the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness in 2015, making its 116,898 acres one of the newest wilderness areas in the country. The landscape looks nothing like the dense forests nearby.

Open sagebrush steppe rolls across the slopes, broken by stands of Douglas fir and volcanic rock formations called hoodoos. The Upper Herd Creek watershed holds one of the most intact native plant communities in Idaho.

Elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorn, and wolves all move through here.

Of the three wilderness areas in this part of central Idaho, this one draws the fewest visitors, so solitude comes easy.

Hot springs line the rivers from the road to the backcountry

The whole forest sits over a zone of volcanic activity, and that heat pushes hot water to the surface across the landscape.

Sunbeam Hot Springs sits along the Salmon River near Stanley, right off the road and easy to reach.

If you want to work for it, Shower Bath Hot Springs requires a longer backcountry hike through a forested valley in the Salmon River Mountains.

Rafters on the Middle Fork soak in hot springs along the riverbanks during multi-day float trips. The Forest Service warns you to always test the water before getting in, because some springs run dangerously hot.

Explore the Salmon-Challis National Forest in Idaho

You can start your trip at the forest headquarters and Public Lands Center in Salmon, Idaho, at 1206 S. Challis St. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and closed on federal holidays.

Boise is the nearest major airport, about a four- to five-hour drive from the main access points. Gateway towns include Stanley, Challis, Salmon, and Mackay.

No entrance fee applies for general access, but you need permits for floating the Middle Fork and Main Salmon rivers. The forest has more than 1,600 miles of trails and dozens of campgrounds.

Check the official website for current conditions before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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