The sights and sounds of nature’s acrobats fill the air of the Lower Salmon River canyon. Listen for the chestnut brown and white canyon wren’s fluid song of decelerating, descending notes resembling the sound of laughter. Look for them in steep, shady sections of the canyon and cliffs. The sooty-gray American dipper, or water Ouzel, may be seen bobbing along the water’s edge or diving, swimming, and even walking on the river bottom in search of food. A blue and white belted kingfisher may hover, then dive headlong into the water from the air. They can be easily recognized by their deep, irregular wing beats and their loud, rattling call. Many mammals can also be seen and heard along the Lower Salmon River. Beavers, otters, minks, and raccoons are all area residents. Sharp eyes may spot Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Blue Canyon and along the Snake River. 

The first human inhabitants of the Lower Salmon River canyon were Native Americans who lived in the canyon over 12,000 years ago. Climatic conditions were cooler than today, and people probably relied on deer, elk, small game, fish and the multitude of plant resources found in the canyons and the surrounding area for sustenance. The climate changed around 8,500 years ago with a peak in aridity and much hotter conditions than today. The human inhabitants adapted to the new conditions by becoming less reliant on big game for food, and placing a greater dietary emphasis on plant, river mussel, and fish resources. The climate slowly moderated with increasing precipitation and cooler temperatures by 4,000 years ago. During this period, the use of plant resources and river mussels continued to increase, with big game remaining a part of the diet. 

The Salmon and Snake Rivers and their tributaries provide important habitat for steelhead trout and salmon. These anadromous fish, which require both salt and freshwater in their life cycles, use the rivers as passageways to travel the 500 to 900 miles between the Pacific Ocean (where they spend their adult lives) and the Idaho streams (where they spawn). Sadly, Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead runs today are only a fraction of their historic size. Sockeye salmon are listed as an endangered species, and fall Chinook salmon, spring/summer Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout are all listed as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The Lower Salmon River represents the age-old battle line where the dense exotic terranes resisted being subducted beneath the west coast of North America and ‘hung up’ creating some of the most distorted and deformed geology in all of the Pacific Northwest. Seventeen million years ago, the earth’s crust thinned out near the continental subduction zone beneath eastern Oregon. Repeated eruptions of expansive lava, now called the Columbia River Basalt Flows, flooded onto the land surface. Evidence of the repeated lava flows can be seen in the cliffs where multiple layers of basalt were deposited one layer upon another over eons of time. 

Ferries were critical to move both people and livestock across the forbidding barrier of the Lower Salmon River in the days before bridges were built. By the early 1900s, many areas in Idaho were settled with a system of trails and roads which led to small communities, homesteads, and mines. The stage road between White Bird and Riggins was completed between 1894 and 1898. When Highway 95 was constructed in 1931, it obliterated most of the stage road. Northern Pacific completed the first railroad survey along the river from Salmon to Lewiston in 1872. However, construction was not feasible due to high cost. From 1920 to 1940, a road from Rock Creek to White Bird, paralleling the Lower Salmon River, was planned to shorten the distance between Cottonwood and White Bird and would have been the current Highway 95. 

Most of the Lower Salmon River rolls through arid Canyon Grassland, a relatively small yet distinctive vegetative region of the Pacific Northwest that is home to many native and rare or special plants. The semi-arid climate features hot, dry summers and mild, moist winters with the longest growing season and most frost-free days of any region in Idaho. Elevations within the river canyon range from 900 feet to over 5,000 feet, enabling many unique plant communities to thrive. Native species common to the Lower Salmon River include bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, prickly pear cactus, poison ivy, lupine, arrowleaf balsamroot, yarrow, mullein, willow, curl leaf mahogany, netleaf hackberry, and ponderosa pine. Some rare plants of interest are Palouse thistle, Palouse goldenweed, broad-fruit Mariposa lily, Salmon River sedum and Idaho phacelia