In the early days it was known for its celebrity sprinkled ski hill, now considered one of the best summer vacation destinations in the West. Think…..A smaller, less congested, less commercialized…a vintage Jackson Hole. Sun Valley’s proximity to world-class whitewater is amazing. Within a few hours you have access to more rivers than can be mentioned. Sun Valley’s closest whitewater is on the nation’s original Wild & Scenic River, The Salmon River of No Return in Stanley Idaho.
Stanley, Idaho’s river capital, is located 1 mega-scenic hour north of Sun Valley in the Nations’s largest National Recreation Area, The SNRA. Stanley is the perfect, small mountain town that bustles in the summer with visitors of all kinds including rafters, anglers, water skiers, ATV’rs, hikers, birders and bakery goers.
Whitewater Rafting in Stanley, Idaho
Sawtooth Adventure Company offers a variety of rafting options for all ages and abilities. We invite you to spend a day of your Sun Valley vacation on the famous Salmon River with our crew of educated, trained and SUPER fun guides!
Scenic Trips- No Whitewater
SAC’s scenic trip occurs on the flat water section of the Salmon. Trip includes magnificent Sawtooth Mountain views, hotsprings, Osprey and Bald Eagles . Trips occur 7 days a week.
Family Fun Whitewater
Stanley’s ‘Day Stretch’ is the perfect introduction to Idaho’s famous Whitewater. Our Class III rafting trips are very popular with families. In fact we host 2 kids for every 1 adult the month of July. The level of FUN is off the charts. We run rapids, jump off ‘jump rock’, eat a yummy riverside lunch and ‘ride the bull’. This trip is great for kids aged 4 and above
High Adventure Trips
Do you need more the ‘family fun whitewater’ to get your fix? Check our our early season Class IV rafting trips and experience Shotgun rapid and ‘The Dam’ up-close and personal. This trip is great for active, adventurous guests. No prior experience is necessary. As we get into July, the water drops and the Inflatable Kayak Trips explode in popularity for our high adventure seeking clients.
Inflatable Kayak Trips
As the water drops, the Inflatable kayaking on the Salmon heats up. Inflatable Kayaks are stable river kayaks appropriately nicknamed duckys as they mimic ducks bobbing down the rapids. This is the most active, physically fun activity we offer all summer long. You get to choose your own adventure! Take the “sneak” through the big rapids and enjoy the views, or paddle hard straight into the rapids and baptize yourself in crystal clear Salmon river water. No experience necessary. Ages 13+. Physically active.
The holidays seem to bring a fury of questions about the river, visiting Stanley and exploring the Sawtooths. I felt it was a prime opportunity to help. After 20 years of helping friends, family and guests plan summer vacations in the Sawtooths here are a few recommendations.
Adventure awaits…
Photo By Lee Cohen
Stanley, Idaho Vacation Tips & Hints
1. Plan early, lodging is your crux. Stanley’s saving grace to staying the small, chill mountain town Mecca…a limited amount of lodging. Stanley is a stunning place and as Boise grows (fastest growing city in the US!) finding lodging in Stanley will only get more difficult. Many places, once your in…your in and they will include you in any early booking opportunities. You can find a complete listings of ALL Stanley, Idaho lodging here
2. We joke….Do you know there are only 2 seasons in Stanley? Winter and July.
No doubt July is a breathtaking month in Stanley. June, August and September are also amazing and offer the same number of amenities and SIGNIFICANTLY less people. Planning your vacation outside of the month of July will significianly open up your lodging options, WAY less people at Redfish beach and a much shorter line at the Bakery.
3. Rule of thumb…June is Whitewater & hot springs. August and September means lake living, Mountain Biking & Fly Fishing.
4. If you have visited Redfish Lake Lodge you understand why it is our favorite place in the valley. At the same time, it gets very, very busy. Weekends are exceptionally buzzing as the weekenders escape the heat of Boise and fill out campgrounds to capacity. If you want stay at Redfish you will need to make reservations in early September for the following summer. Campgrounds reserve out 6 months in advance.
5. All this talk about avoiding July, I feel a little guilty. Why… Because 4th of July in Stanley is AMAZING! The whitewater is pumping, trails are in prime condition, the valley is GREEN and nightly live music at Stanley’s Velvet Falls Dance Hall. Not to mention, our favorite little town throws a BIG birthday party for America!. Stanley Idaho’s 4th of July is world-class and should be on everyone’s bucket list. Old fire engines, horse drawn wagons, kids on bikes and a HUGE water fight between rafts companies, all topped off with an amazing firework show under the Sawtooths.
Its official, pending Forest Service and Idaho Licensing Board approval, Sawtooth Adventure Company and Rocky Mountain River Tours are joining forces to continue Rocky’s 35 year tradition on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon. Roni, Maya and I are ecstatic to offer the #1 River Trip in Americato our SAC friends, family, and clientele. Imagine 100 miles of pristine wilderness, world class rapids, hot springs galore, amazing food and ridiculously good fly fishing!
Wow…lots of big and exciting changes are happening in 2013. One of the most exciting, the addition of RMRT’s guides to our crew. The RMRT crew has set the standard for Idaho guides and we can’t wait to learn their Middle Fork secrets and stories. Equally as exciting…after 30 years Rocky Mountain River Tours will be returning to Idaho’s famous Salmon River of No Return!
Beginning this spring, our Family Rafting Trips on Idaho’s Wild & Scenic Salmon River will be offered by Rocky Mountain River Tours and operated out of our New Wilderness River Headquarters in Salmon, Idaho. We cannot wait to inject Rocky’s 35 years experience and world-renowned Dutch Oven cuisine to our increasingly popular family rafting vacations!
Sawtooth Adventure Company will continue to offer the best in 1-Day Rafting, Kayaking, Mountain Biking & Fly Fishing for Redfish Lake Lodge, Stanley, and Sun Valley Idaho visitors. FYI…SAC received TripAdvisor.com’s highest ranking of excellence in 2012 !
Exciting things are happening daily. Stay in touch!
Hard to believe that 2012 is all but in the books! 2013 will celebrate Sawtooth Adventure Company’s 13th season on the Salmon River. Every summer we get the opportunity to share this amazing corner of our country and expand our river family. Thank you, we are extremely grateful. We wish you all Healthy & Happy New Year!
This past September, during Andy and Vanessa’s (two SAC guides) wedding we were able to gather more past SAC employees than at any point in history. Picture Proof that SAC guides are the best!
I must admit….though I own/operate a wilderness adventure company, like everyone else I am always connected. My Iphone is never far away and I think the Ipad might be the coolest toy since full suspension mountain bikes. During the winter I find myself digesting digital media equal to the big business guy plugged into the stock market. Against my better judgments and with Christmas on the horizon, the desire for more digital screens, devices and apps only grows.
I pride myself on being an active and involved family man. I strive to rage against the machine, but admittedly family time can still deteriorate into our own screens. When I think about how much of our lives will be absorbed into our digital devices it makes me sad. In this busy world of productivity, volatile markets, tweets, status updates and breaking news it is only getting harder to pull ourselves away from the screen.
As parents in the midst of the daily grind it takes a conscious effort to log-off …..and connect with what matters. I cherish the chats on the chairlift with my daughter during a cold, snowy powder day. Or the uninterrupted, warm & sunny beach walks with my wife. I look forward to spending a spring weekend surrounded by redrocks and the desert stars. Though mostly, without question… I look forward to our annual family river trips. For my family it happens every year, sometimes twice, but it never loses its magic. Those five days where I watch fellow parents fully engage with their kids… their laughter… their anxiety’s… their successes and their failures. I watch the parent-child relationship evolve through the daily discovery of the unknown. Those that have experienced the Salmon River know exactly what I am talking about.
So in an effort to ditch the device I will keep exploring, seeking out moments to disconnect. In this crazy world of trends, soundbites, bipartisan politics and digi-devices… more than ever, we to truly and completely need an escape. So if in your journeys you find a better opportunity than the Salmon River and The Frank Church Wilderness to reconnect with the fam, let me know…
