Hell's Canyon - Snake River

Hells Canyon - Snake River

Rio taking in the views on Hell's Canyon

October is a strange month as a whitewater professional.  For most of us it marks the end of a great whitewater season and beginning of a new chapter in our lives.  Some whitewater professionals head to foreign destinations to be able to guide year round, but the majority either head back to school, work at a ski resort, or find some other odd job to keep them occupied during the “off” season.

Group shot!

This October (2014) some of the staff here at Wildwater River Guides, along with some friends, headed to the infamous Hells Canyon of the Snake River.  Designated in 1975 as a Wild and Scenic river, the Hells Canyon stretch of the Snake River splits the border between Oregon and Idaho before it makes its way into Washington.  This stretch of river contains mainly class II and III rapids but does have a few class IV rapids thrown in just to keep things interesting.

Drew scouting class IV Granite rapid while another group enters

Our group (7 people, 1 dog, 3 rafts, 1 SUP & 2 kayaks) decided to all meet at Scotty’s Hells Canyon Outdoor supply in the small town of Pine Creek.  We arranged shuttle with Hell’s Canyon Shuttle Inc., which are the same friendly people that own Scotty’s.  For convenience they offer camping at a small fenced in area behind the shop for groups like ours.  They also sell maps, permits, hunting/fishing licences, snacks, ice, and soon they plan to sell house made burritos as well.  So after we purchased ice, fishing permits, and some fishing lures we headed to the launch site below Hell’s Canyon Dam.

Hell's Canyon Dam launch site

For 5 days we rafted 32 miles from the Dam to Pittsburg Landing, where our trip took out.  We had great weather for most of our trip;  nights were cool but the days were mostly sunny and warm.  Our layover day (a day in which we stay at camp instead of moving downstream) was the worst of our weather.  The winds picked up quite a bit and there was some rain along with it, but nothing that our group couldn’t handle.  

Native American pictographs

Delicious riverside breakfast 

The fishing in Hell’s Canyon lived up to its reputation.  As expected our group caught numerous bass, a rainbow trout, a white fish, and even a king salmon!  There were also several commercial groups out hunting for Chukar.

Lance's first ever salmon!

Another bass caught in Hell's Canyon

All-in-all our group had a great time on Hell’s Canyon and would recommend this trip to others.  It is a great fall trip due to the regulated flows out of the dam providing nearly year round whitewater.  The only downside of Hell’s Canyon is the shuttle length.  The drive from Pittsburg landing back to the dam is about 4 hours.  There are options during certain times of the year to arrange a jetboat shuttle/ride back to the dam.  This wasn’t an option for the time of year our group was out there, and it wouldn’t have made sense for a group of 7 based on the cost.  Another great option would be to float a few more days down to Heller Bar.

Nice sandy beach at this campsite

From late May through mid September each group is required to obtain a permit through the USFS. The permit system is lottery style, so getting specific dates can be difficult at times.  Any trips outside of the lottery permit dates can obtain a FREE self-issued permit at the launch site. For more information on permits visit click here. 

McGaffee Cabin