Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
Salmon River Road
Riggins, ID
Deeper than the Grand Canyon and far less crowded, a mile-and-a-half-deep gorge where the Snake River still runs wild between Idaho and Oregon.
Hells Canyon is the deepest river-carved gorge in North America, plunging about 7,900 feet from the peaks of the Seven Devils Mountains to the Snake River far below. That is some two thousand feet deeper than the Grand Canyon, yet only a fraction of the visitors ever see it, because the canyon is so remote and so hard to reach that it has stayed genuinely wild.
The Snake River carved this trench and still runs free through its heart, forming the boundary between Idaho and Oregon. The National Recreation Area, set aside in 1975, protects more than a thousand square miles of it, from high alpine lakes on the rim to the sun-baked river bottom, a range of country so vast that no single visit can take it all in.
What Guests Love
- Standing at the deepest gorge on the continent, cut nearly a mile and a half down
- Jet boat and raft trips through the whitewater of the wild Snake River
- Ancient Nez Perce rock art and homestead ruins deep in the canyon
- Bighorn sheep, elk, and soaring raptors on the canyon walls
Worth Knowing
- The canyon is enormous and roadless in its core; the rim viewpoints, the river, and the depths are all very different trips, so plan which one you want
- Summers in the bottom of the gorge are brutally hot, while the rim stays cooler
- Boat and float trips often require outfitters or permits; the wild river is not a casual paddle
- Access roads are long, winding, and sometimes rough; carry water, fuel, and a full tank of patience
Details
Riggins, ID
Learn about Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
The Nimiipuu homeland
Hells Canyon is the ancestral home of the Nimiipuu, the Nez Perce people, who lived and traveled through the gorge for thousands of years. The canyon and the surrounding plateau were the center of their world, and their descendants remain deeply connected to this land today.
The evidence is written on the rock. At Buffalo Eddy and other sites, hundreds of petroglyphs and pictographs record a human presence in the canyon reaching back thousands of years. In 1877 the Nez Perce were forced from this country, the beginning of the long flight of Chief Joseph's band, a history that the canyon still carries.
How the gorge was cut
The rocks of Hells Canyon are old ocean-floor and volcanic material, later buried by the vast basalt flows that covered the region. As the land rose, the Snake River sawed downward, cutting faster than the country could rise and leaving the staggering depth you see today.
Because the canyon is so deep, it spans an enormous range of life zones, from cold subalpine forest and high lakes on the rim to a hot, dry, almost desert environment on the river. Walk from top to bottom and you pass through the equivalent of a long journey south, all in a few miles of elevation.
Meeting the canyon
There are three very different ways to experience Hells Canyon. From the water, jet boats and rafts run the Snake through big, named rapids, the classic way to feel the scale of the walls rising around you. On foot, long trails drop from the rim toward the river past old homesteads and mining relics.
And from the rim, viewpoints reached by long forest roads let you simply stand and look into the depths. Each is a full outing in itself, and locals will tell you that no single trip does the place justice, which is part of why people keep coming back.
Wildlife and seasons
The canyon is rich with wildlife: bighorn sheep and mountain goats on the cliffs, elk and deer on the benches, black bear and cougar in the timber, and chukar and raptors riding the updrafts. Sturgeon and salmon move through the river below the dams.
The rim country is a summer and early-fall destination, snowed in for much of the year. The river bottom, by contrast, is hot in summer and mild in the shoulder seasons, so spring and fall are often the sweet spot for a float. Always check road and water conditions before committing to a trip.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Walla Walla Garden Motel
Honorable Mention2279 E Isaacs Ave, Walla Walla, WA
85 miles away|Learn More ›
Things to Do Near Riggins
Riggins
River-access town
A small whitewater town at the confluence of the Salmon and Little Salmon, the launch point for many Snake and Salmon River trips.
White Bird Battlefield
About 30 miles north
The site of the first battle of the 1877 Nez Perce War, part of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, with an interpretive auto tour.
Seven Devils Mountains
Above the canyon
The jagged range on the Idaho rim, with high lakes and trailheads at Heavens Gate Overlook looking straight down into the gorge.