Main Salmon River Tours

Hi, my name is Savanah and I had the experience of a lifetime when I went on the Main Salmon river with the Idaho Afloat team. I was there for four days and on the first day I slept out under the stars, the sky was beautiful! When I woke up breakfast was ready and it was almost like breakfast in bed. After breakfast everybody got ready and we floated the first time.  The scenery was amazing and I got wet but sometimes I was lucky enough to stay dry.  The guide of the boat did an awesome job, I felt safe at all times.  We stopped for lunch and ate on a beautiful beach.  After lunch we floated some more. 

The rapids seemed scary, but after we floated through them they were fun and not scary at all.  After a long, fun day of rafting we pulled into camp and had a great dinner and played in the cool water (the weather was quite warm!).  We did the same thing for another 3 days, but it was different in ways because the scenery just got better and better.  We stopped by a hot springs that had a big pool to sit in.  It was hidden from the river, but all the guides knew right where to find it. You have to hike a little to get to it, but after you get in the warm water you feel clean and your body thanks you. Unfortunately, we had to get out after awhile and let other rafters have a turn.

We floated by old homesteads and ranched established over a 100 years ago. One example is "Buckskin Bills", it is a store and museum that has hand made tools used by Buckskin Bill to build a house, cellar, and lookout tower.  This is a sight you have to see, it's amazing!

The very last day was the most fun for me because some of the biggest rapids were on the river and it was also my birthday.  I turned 13 on the Salmon river, this was exciting for me because the river guides baked me a cake in a dutch oven.  It was very creative!  The guides were very nice and fun to be around. I hope this letter encourages you to take a trip on the beautiful Salmon river and have memories you will never forget, I know I do!!

I have started reading "River of No Return" by Johnny Carrey & Cort Conley.  The book is all about the early travels on the Main Salmon River in Idaho.  As I'm sitting there reading about the huge wooden boats they called "Scows" and how they required two boatmen to navigate the river using two huge wooden oars off each end, I think to myself WOW....whitewater rafting has come a long way! They used these boats in the early 1900's for exploratory trips when trying to map out railroad routes. It wasn't until the 1930's that they used inflatable rafts and braved the rivers for fun.


These days we love rafting the River of No Return in Idaho.  With the ever-changing technologies in adventure sports, we can now enjoy the rivers safely and with most of the luxuries of home.  Our guides are thoroughly trained and very familiar with the  river at all levels.  The river now makes for a great family vacation in Idaho.  With the large sandy beaches to play or relax on, the beautiful scenery, and the amazing whitewater fun how can you go wrong for your adventure vacation!

If you are thinking about a rafting vacation I'm sure you have a ton of questions!  Maybe you're trying to decide if it's even a good option...let's put that one to rest, it's a great option and an experience that will leave lasting memories for everyone. The next biggest question on your mind might be which river is right for me and my friends or family? Idaho Afloat offers multi-day whitewater adventures on 3 rivers; the Snake River through Hells Canyon, the Main Salmon River, and the Lower Salmon River.  We'll go over a brief description of each to help you decide which river is right for you.

Our Hells Canyon trip is our best seller, it's short and sweet! Usually run in 3 days, this trip is packed with excitement and easy to fit into a long weekend. Rapids in the Snake River Canyon range from class II-IV and are consistently spaced throughout the 32 miles.  Fishing is fantastic all summer, you'll be reeling in small mouth bass, trout, and possibly a 4-6 ft sturgeon!  We'll stop to look at historic homesteads, Indian pictographs, or maybe take a short hike. Steep, rocky canyon walls follow us down both sides of the river which is beautiful to look at, but don't provide the big sandy beaches you'll find on the other rivers.

The Main Salmon is my favorite trip! It's a longer trip at 4-6 days depending on water flows, but you'll enjoy every minute of it.  I love it for it's scenery, it runs through the beautiful Frank-Church wilderness and offers campers large sandy white beaches.  The beaches are great for bocce ball, horseshoes, or sand castles. The rapids are class II-VI, and the temperature tends to be a little cooler than the other two rivers. While the River of No Return offers lots of history with old homesteads and pictographs, the best stop is Barth Hot springs, a natural hot springs that will hold up to 15 people. 

For the best of both worlds you might consider the Lower Salmon.  I think the Lower Salmon is a diamond in the rough.  The river runs through four different canyons but offers great big beaches for camping.  The rapids are not as intense, but can be more technical than Hells Canyon which makes this river great for families with younger kiddos.  It offers great fishing for small mouth bass and trout, and if you're really lucky a sturgeon.  Last but not least, we're offering great discounts for the Lower Salmon to make your Family Vacation in Idaho a little more affordable. 

Basically, you can't really go wrong with an Idaho Afloat rafting trip once you figure out which one is right for you.  And, of course, if you need a little help with your decision give us a call and we'll answer any questions you have.

The Idaho Afloat team is counting down the days until we can get back out on the river.  The winter was starting to dry us out so we spent February getting wet, some for pleasure and others for a cause.

On Feb 21, Idaho Afloat owners Teri and Dave Sr took their first "Polar Plunge" to benefit the Special Olympics. If you think the Snake River can be a bit chilly in the summer, try cutting through 3 feet of snow and ice and then jumping in bearing only your swimming suit!! Our daughter/sister has Down's Syndrome, so we jumped (no pun intended) at the chance to help raise money for a good cause. This was the first year Anaconda has hosted this jump and we helped to raise $16,000.00 for Special Olympics. So as you can see if we aren't skiing, snowmobiling in the winter, we take the Plunge.


While Teri and Dave Sr were jumping into frigid water to raise money, Ty and I (Kate) were rafting Costa Rica's renowned Rio Pacuare on our honeymoon.  The Rio Pacuare is considered one of the top five rivers in the world to raft for it scenery and rapids...and let me tell you it was amazing!  The scenery was breathtaking, the water was inviting, and the rapids were exciting.  It was a completely different world from all the rivers we have rafted in the Western United States.  It was a much more narrow river than our Hells Canyon or Salmon rivers, and the rapids were shallow and rocky.  We had a great guide who had been rafting the Pacuare for 13 years and was incredibly knowledgeable. We were only able to spend a day on the river, but we raft the rest of the year so we wanted to have time for other adventures.  After rafting we did waterfall rappelling in the rain forest, a canopy tour, sea kayaking and snorkeling...it was a busy week!

And now? Back to getting ready for the upcoming season!!  It's creeping up on us quickly and we are already planning a trip at the end of March for our guides...burrr!

What do you get when you cross a retired electrician devoted to river running, a whitewater guide sick of working for other outfitters and an incredibly supportive family?

You get Idaho Afloat's management team!

Ty and Kate Tyvand and David Colbert have been fortunate enough to have their family invest in this amazing multi-day whitewater operation running trips through Hells Canyon in the Snake River canyon, the Main Salmon (a.k.a. River of No Return in Idaho), the Lower Salmon River gorge, and fishing on the Clearwater.

We are all avid whitewater rafters, it's our passion! We are so grateful to be able to provide the opportunity for others to join us on the water and understand what an amazing experience a few secluded days on the river with friends and family can be.

Each river that we run offers great scenery, amazing food, and good times. Whether your looking to spend time with friends or for an exciting family vacation, Idaho style, we have a trip that would be right for you so give us a call.