Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness
| Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness | |
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IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
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Middle Fork Salmon River
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| Location | Idaho / Valley / Lemhi / Custer counties, Idaho, U.S. |
| Nearest city | Yellow Pine, Idaho |
| Coordinates | 45°3′55″N 114°57′16″W / 45.06528°N 114.95444°WCoordinates: 45°3′55″N 114°57′16″W / 45.06528°N 114.95444°W |
| Area | 2,366,827 acres (9,578.21 km2) |
| Established | January 1, 1980 |
| Governing body |
U.S. Forest Service U.S. Bureau of Land Management |
The Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness Area is a protected wilderness area in Idaho. It was created in 1980 by the United States Congress and renamed in 1984 as the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area in honor of U.S. Senator Frank Church.
At 2.367 million acres (9,580 km2), it is the largest contiguous federally managed wilderness in the United States outside of Alaska, which is second in area only to the contiguous area of the state-managed Adirondack Park in upstate New York, which contains some 46% of its state-managed area of 9,375 square miles (24,281 km2.) as wilderness parkland. The Death Valley Wilderness is the largest single designated area but consists of numerous disconnected units. The wilderness protects several mountain ranges, extensive wildlife, and a popular whitewater rafting river: the Salmon River.
Together with the adjacent Gospel Hump Wilderness and surrounding unprotected roadless Forest Service land, it is the core of a 3.3 million acre (13,000 km2) roadless area. It is separated from the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, to the north, by a single dirt road (the Magruder Corridor). The wilderness contains parts of several mountain ranges, including the Salmon River Mountains, the Clearwater Mountains, and the Bighorn Crags. The ranges are split by steep canyons of the Middle and Main forks of the Salmon River. The Salmon River is a popular destination for whitewater rafting, and is colloquially known as the "River of No Return" for its swift current which makes upstream travel difficult. Most of the area is covered by coniferous forests, with dry, open land along the rivers at lower elevations.
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