{"id":191,"date":"2018-08-16T19:44:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/strivemarketing.info\/wwa\/?page_id=191"},"modified":"2025-04-08T17:46:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T23:46:04","slug":"payette-river","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/westernwhitewater.org\/?page_id=191","title":{"rendered":"Payette River"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Payette River can be divided into four separate river areas.<\/p>

The North Fork runs from the dam at Cascade, Idaho, to its confluence with the South Fork at Banks, Idaho.\u00a0 The upper section of the North Fork from Cascade Dam to Smiths Ferry is known as the Carbarton Run.\u00a0 It is relatively calm and regularly used by floaters and canoeists.\u00a0 Beginning at Smiths Ferry the river is pure whitewater with extensive class V+ rapids.\u00a0 Although no known restrictions apply to the North Fork, the lack of launching facilities and the class of water on the lower end preclude it’s use for general recreational jetboating.<\/p>

The South Fork emerges from the Sawtooth Mountains northeast of Lowman, Idaho, and flows westerly until it converges with the North Fork at Banks, Idaho.\u00a0 A few jetboaters have run some sections of the South Fork, launching in Garden Valley.\u00a0 To our knowledge it has not had a jetboat on it in many years and is generally considered unsuitable for general recreational jetboating.<\/p>

The Main Payette runs from Banks, Idaho, to the confluence with the Snake River.\u00a0 The Upper Main Payette extends from Banks to Black Canyon Reservoir just east of Emmett, Idaho.\u00a0 This section of river offers 15 miles of intense, demanding whitewater for jetboaters.\u00a0 Harvey’s, Turn-Out (AKA “AMF”), Pete’s (AKA “Mixmaster”), Landslide, and Roller Coaster (AKA “Intro”) provide exciting Class III+ whitewater.\u00a0 The highlight of this section is Landslide Rapid.\u00a0 This rapid is aptly named as it was formed by the spring floods of 1997, when the creek above washed a section of Highway 55 into the river.\u00a0 The rapid can be observed from Highway 55 on the road to Banks.\u00a0 A four foot vertical step up onto the narrow tongue, severe side currents, and highly aerated water present significant hazard.\u00a0 Landside is so steep, that when you watch a 22′ jetboat go downstream, it will disappear from sight for several seconds, until it pops out at the bottom.<\/p>

The river canyon of the Upper Main Payette is narrow, but there is generally ample water when streamflow reaches 7000 cfs.\u00a0 However, this is a very technical section of river. and it is not recommended for inexperienced jetboaters.<\/p>

Launching facilities are not the best along the Upper Main Payette.\u00a0 There is a ramp just north of Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, but launching requires that the boat and trailer enter the swift current at a 90 degree angle to the river.\u00a0 The ramp is also very steep and some carbureted boats tend to load up as they are started.\u00a0 There is another launch at Black Canyon Reservoir with good facilities.\u00a0 However, launching at this site requires navigation through extensive shallow water flats at the upper end of the reservoir and there are several low clearance bridges to transgress on the way up river.\u00a0 At high water, it is impossible to clear some of the bridges and the dam at the Horseshoe Bend sawmill can be a tough climb up.<\/p>

The Lower Main Payette, below Black Canyon Dam is a braided river that demands a keen eye.\u00a0\u00a0 This section of the river has many gravel bars, islands, diversion dams, and huge chunks of concrete that have been dumped into the river course and the twin bridges at Fruitland and Payette are very low.\u00a0 Also, the streamflow information from the gage at Black Canyon Dam may be inapplicable on the lower section of the river as outflows from the dam are sometimes drawn down significantly by farmers irrigating crops.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Payette River can be divided into four separate river areas. The North Fork runs from the dam at Cascade, Idaho, to its confluence with the South Fork at Banks, Idaho.\u00a0 The upper section of the North Fork from Cascade Dam to Smiths Ferry is known as the Carbarton Run.\u00a0 It is relatively calm and…<\/p>\n

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