Lochsa, Idaho, US

3 - Wilderness Gateway bridge to Split Creek Pack Bridge (Fish Creek to Split Creek)

Backsurfing Pipeline

Backsurfing Pipeline
Photo by Kevin Pickens @ 7,500 cfs USGS Gauge

Gauge Information

River Description

The Lochsa is truly an Idaho Classic, offering paddlers miles and miles of big beautiful whitewater. The most commonly run section is from Fish Creek to Split Creek, and features over a dozen big named rapids and some great playboating.

At low water the Lochsa is an enjoyable paddling trip with some technical moves, some nice small play features, and pools between each of the rapids. At medium water the rapids link up with swift water and become big fun rollercoasters with few technical moves. The play waves grow in size, with Pipeline as the centerpiece. Most rapids are run right of center as a general rule of thumb and can be scouted from highwater 12 (beware, though, of the Idaho Sandbag: many Idaho rivers look easy from the road and are actually confusing and stompy on the water). At high water the Lochsa is a wild ride of towering waves and thundering holes that is ridicuously fun (if you stay in your boat).

The camping and hiking around the Lochsa are great. Superb water quality and scenery, along with booming and relatively straightforward whitewater, make the Lochsa a true Idaho treasure. 

An excellent Guide to Floating the Lochsa is published by the US Forest Services, which includes rapid names with mile markers, camping information and much more (.pdf 1.2 MB).

Idaho Whitewater by Greg Moore and Don McClaran (Class VI; 1989); Idaho: The Whitewater State by Grant Amaral (Watershed Books, 1990).