About the Area

Each year thousands of visitors come to the Salmon Challis National Forest to enjoy the diverse recreational activities it has come to be known for. 

Covering over 4.3 million acres of east-central Idaho, individuals have the opportunity to enjoy the natural landscapes of the Continental Divide, the vast, 1.3 million acres of the Frank Church-- River of No Return Wilderness, the newly designated Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness, the snow-covered cap of the tallest peak in Idaho, Borah Peak, or the free-flowing waters of the the Wild & Scenic Salmon River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

In 1906 the Salmon River Forest Reserve was established; this was later renamed in 1908 to the Salmon National Forest in order to properly reflect the multiplicity of uses for the region.  Later that same year, the Challis National Forest was created. The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness was established by congress in 1980; this area encompassed a total of 2.36 million acres extending across 6 national forests and 97 miles of the Salmon River to become the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states.  1996 brought change to these two forests as the USDA and the National Forest Service began to streamline the administration of different regions.  As part of a “pilot program” started in 1996, the Salmon National Forest, Challis National Forest, and a portion of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness consolidated to become the Salmon-Challis National Forest; this consolidation became formally approved in Washington, DC in February 1998.