Little Salmon River (Idaho)
| Little Salmon River | |
 A waterfall on the Little Salmon River
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Idaho |
| Regions | Idaho County, Adams County |
| Part of | Salmon River |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Rapid River |
| - right | Goose Creek |
| City | New Meadows |
| Source | Blue Bunch Ridge |
| - location | Sawtooth Range, Adams County |
| - elevation | 6,280 ft (1,914 m) |
| - coordinates | 44°50′28″N 116°15′46″W / 44.84111°N 116.26278°W |
| Mouth | Salmon River |
| - location | Riggins, Idaho County |
| - elevation | 1,716 ft (523 m) |
| - coordinates | 45°25′00″N 116°18′53″W / 45.41667°N 116.31472°WCoordinates: 45°25′00″N 116°18′53″W / 45.41667°N 116.31472°W |
| Length | 51 mi (82 km), South-North |
| Basin | 576 sq mi (1,492 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| - average | 731 cu ft/s (21 m3/s) |
| - max | 12,600 cu ft/s (357 m3/s) |
The Little Salmon River is a tributary of the Salmon River in the U.S. state of Idaho. The river is some 51 miles (82 km) long and drains 576 square miles (1,490 km2) of land.
It rises at 6,280 feet (1,910 m) in elevation on Blue Bunch Ridge in the Sawtooth Range of south-central Idaho, close to Payette Lake. From there, it flows north, through the broad Meadows Valley past Meadows and New Meadows, where it receives Goose Creek from the right and Mud Creek from the left.
The river then enters a canyon, cutting across the western edge of the Salmon River Mountains, forming the boundary between Idaho County and Adams County and also running next to U.S. Highway 95. It receives Hazard Creek and Payette Creek both from the right, then receives Boulder Creek, the Rapid River and Squaw Creek from the left, and past Pollock, before joining the Salmon River at the town of Riggins, at 1,720 feet (520 m) above sea level.
A U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge at the mouth recorded an average flow of 731.1 cubic feet per second (20.70 m3/s) from 1952 to present. The highest flow ever recorded was 12,600 cubic feet per second (360 m3/s) on June 17, 1974.
The Little Salmon River formed as a result of a rift valley developing between the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia Plateau section of the Intermontane Plateaus. Columbia River basalts underlie much of the western and central parts of the watershed, while other types of volcanic rock of closer origin form the foundations of the eastern mountains. The entire watershed is dissected by fault-block rifting. The water table is high and soils are generally well drained and of volcanic origin. The upper section of the watershed is a broad and low-gradient, sediment-floored valley used primarily for agriculture and ranching activities, and also has most of the basin's population. The rest of the river flows in a wild, deep, and narrow canyon mostly undeveloped with the exception of the highway. Logging has also been a past activity in the valley, and tourism and fishing are growing industries. In a rare occurrence with rivers, the Little Salmon starts out in a developed, relatively flat area and flows through mountains further downstream, bearing some resemblance to the Klamath River, which also begins in an agricultural valley before cutting through mountains to the sea.
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