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- Published: 20 Jan 2021
There is a reason this tributary of the Bruneau has so often been likened to the Grand Canyon. The high desert of Owyhee River Canyon offers an attractive set of outdoor adventures including hiking, kayaking, rafting, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, and wildlife watching. The Owyhee River Wilderness is located on the high basalt plateaus of Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho in the western United States.The wilderness area is named after and protects the upper Owyhee River, its tributaries, and the surrounding desert canyon landscape. Runnable flows can be anywhere between 800 to 8000 cfs! Featured Outfitters. Whitewater rafting is a popular recreational activity in this wilderness area. This is the most approachable section of the Owyhee as the rapids are easy to moderate in nature and we are able to use our larger 16' rafts and run more of a "normal" rafting trip with the usual amenities that make for very comfortable and cushy camping. Bungalow #9. North Fork Recreation Site is set in a canyon along the North Fork of the Owyhee River. Allotment. 50 miles. It stood vacant for many years after the Bureau of Reclamation contracted out the operations and maintenance of the dam. Lodging can best be found in the Nampa, Caldwell or Boise area of Idaho or in Ontario, Oregon. North Fork Campground is a small, quiet campground nestled in the backcountry of Idaho. Our Lower Owyhee river trip offers spectacular scenery, good whitewater, and the chance to visit a rarely seen part of the United States. Owyhee River Boaters’ Camp. Pitch your tent along the east side of the river, cast a line for redband trout and marvel at the Three Forks Dome—the geologic puzzle piece in the middle of it all. The road winds through Little Jacks Creek Wilderness and is adjacent to the Pole Creek and North Fork Owyhee wilderness areas. Willows line the river and even provide some small bit of shade for a couple of the campsites. While this camp is situated along the Owyhee, it is an approximate 5-10 minute drive from the prime fishing areas of the river. You MUST catch and release all the Brown Trout you catch but you can keep any Rainbow Trout that you catch. One option: the North Fork of the Owyhee River Campground, a developed campsite along the way that offers a solid home base for hiking. // Photo by Paul Delaney. You will see a pipeline crossing the river. Ditchrider Resources. Our put-in is near the town of Rome with our take-out being at Birch Creek. Campground & Park. Located in the remote southeast corner of the state, the Owyhee River is almost unmatched in its remoteness and desert beauty. Camp in undeveloped spots along the way and take short hikes into wilderness areas. Just you and the fish. 50 miles. Fishing man-made Lake Owyhee with three concrete ramps is best by boat and only in the high water spring and early summer season. Owyhee Reservoir is a 53-mile-long lake, filling a narrow, deep canyon brimming with colorful volcanic rock formations. Contact. The drive from Nyssa to the park is along the Owyhee River which runs through a beautiful canyon and offers many opportunities for wildlife viewing and fishing. Our trip ran from the Bureau of Land Management boat ramp and campground, just east of the wide spot in U.S. Highway 95 known as Rome, and covered 50 miles to the remote Birch Creek Ranch takeout. Bungalow #9 was built in 1928 as one of nine cottages to house Bureau of Reclamation employees who were building the Owyhee Dam. The Owyhee River lies in the southeastern corner of Oregon. Gorgeous sunset views! The roughly 14-mile stretch of the Owyhee River below the dam is renown among fly-anglers for its brown trout. When you are looking at the calendar, look for days that have no blue highlights or only one blue highlight across the date range your looking to schedule. Day Use Park Calendar. There are primitive campsites near the river but be careful as some are only accessible by 4-wheel-drive vehicles. Owyhee State Park is open for camping April 15th to October 31st and is open to day use year round. The Owyhee River, below the dam from the Owyhee Reservoir, holds some nice Brown Trout and some decent Rainbow Trout! It is 280 miles (450 km) long. North, Middle and Main forks of the Owyhee River meet and merge into one. Red-winged blackbirds ring out from the reeds, swallows dart over the water and into mud nests, western meadowlarks sing to each other from opposite banks, and sage-grouse fan and dance among the leks; antelope speed across the plains and bighorn sheep gracefully move across the rocks and canyons; … The river's drainage basin is 11,049 square miles (28,620 km 2) in area, one of the largest subbasins of the Columbia Basin. You may not see a fellow angler the entire day. 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