Middle Fork of the Salmon River

 
Copyright: Ralph Maughan
The Canyon of the Middle Fork of the Salmon



Thirty-one of the 35 wolves reintroduced into central Idaho were released in various places on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River -- at Thomas Creek, at Indian Creek, and at Dagger Falls.

All 20 of the 1996 wolves were released at Dagger Falls on the Middle Fork.

The Middle Fork is an entirely wilderness river. It flows 98 miles through the Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness to blend its waters with the main fork of the Salmon. In places the canyon is over 5000 feet deep.

The Salmon River has a number of other major forks -- the East Fork, the Yankee Fork, the North Fork, the South Fork, and, of course, the main fork.

The river was named after the massive salmon runs, but these declined to almost nothing in the 1990s. Since 2002 there has been a rebound, but far short of the runs from the 1800s to the 1930s when the first of the big dams went in on the Columbia River.


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