Stanley, Idaho

Home to Sawtooth Adventure Company.   Located in the Sawtooth Valley in central Idaho and sits at 6,250 ft elevation.  Stanley, Idaho is surrounded by the Sawtooth Mountains, The Frank Church Wilderness and White Cloud Mountains. Idaho’s famous Salmon River of No Return flows past Stanley from its origin 30 miles up stream, on its 900 mile journey to the Pacific Ocean.

Stanley, Idaho summer weather

Stanley, Idaho has a reputation as the “coldest place in the lower 48”. While winters can be brutally cold, it gets its reputation for its cold summer mornings. It is not uncommon for Stanley to dip into the lower 30’s and upper 20’s at any point during the summer months.  The fluctuation of temperature between 6am and 11AM can easily swings 60 degrees.  This is due to the majority of land surrounding Stanley is above 9000 ft.  The cold air pours into the valley in the mornings and a temperature inversion sets hold until the sun warms the valley floor . Stanley sits at the bottom of the Sawtooth Valley where all that cold air pools. 

Last week I headed up to Stanley to attend the Stanley/Sawtooth Chamber of Commerce meeting and check out the Salmon River snow pack. Spring has been slow to return to the valley, but came with a vengeance last week. Temperatures approached 70 degrees and spiked the river to 5.5 ft. on the Yankee Fork gauge. Downstream the Salmon River of No Return swelled to 35,000 cfs at the Whitebird gauge. Current estimates have the Salmon River Snowpack at 93% of normal. Don’t worry, the current forecast calls for cold weather and snow for the next week. Great news for the river community and could swing us back towards 100% . The season for rafting the Salmon River is just around the corner. Are you ready?

Photos (clockwise): Shotgun Rapid (Class IV) at 4.5 feet (medium low level)
on the Salmon River near Stanley, A few of Stanley’s year-round residents relax and take in the sun, spring sunset, Top of Galena Summit looking north towards Stanley.