Fun & Adventure
| Your adventures are only limited by time and imagination. The choices are endless. Here are just a few of the experiences in Salmon that await you.
Idaho Adventures isn't just the Salmon Marathon Race Headquarters; it is your adventure headquarters. Located on Main Street on the Salmon River, Idaho Adventures offers an outstanding variety of activities for the whole family. Plus, they make a mean latte. Here are just a few of the choices offered to you but check out their website for others.
- Combine a beautiful scenic float from downtown Salmon to Morgan Bar with a delicious Dutch oven dinner served at Morgan Bar. The cost for this great combo is just $69 per person.
- For a livelier river trip, take the 1-day whitewater float which not only includes some heart-pounding rapids but also a great riverside lunch.
- For you fishing enthusiasts, try the Walk-n-Wade fishing on the Lemhi River or for something new, take a spey rod fly fishing clinic.
Kookabura offers great float trips on the Salmon River.
- A scenic half day trip costs just $45 and refreshments are served.
- A full day whitewater trip includes lunch and costs $95.
Rawhide Outfitters offers both fishing and rafting. But runners might want to try something unique to the Salmon area.
- Take a full day Lewis and Clark Interpretive van and walking tour, with lunch for just $95 per person. Ride to the Sacajawea Memorial Camp in Montana then walk or ride 1/5 mile to Lemhi Pass, where in 1805 Meriwether Lewis became the first European-American to cross the Continental Divide. The trip proceeds to other sites of other "firsts" including the first time an American flag was unfurled west of the Rockies and the first encounter with Sacajawea's people. Although this historic area has changed very little in 200 years, an air conditioned van and sumptuous lunch will make the journey through it quite different from that experienced by the Corps of Discovery.
Geertson Creek Trail Rides is located just up Geertson Creek Road which you will pass along the marathon route.
- Take a half day trail ride on steady, well-trained ranch horses up into the mountains or along the ranch lands. Geertson Creek Trail Rides is offering a 10% discount to runners and their families.
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Whether you want peaceful and scenic, or wild and wet, the Salmon River offers it all.
The Lemhi River offers great hide-aways and fishing holes.
Or hike to one of our mountain lakes, like Yellowjacket Lake.
If all of this sounds like too much work, sit back and relax in the Goldbug Hot Springs.
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Fun & Adventure for Free or Cheap
Visit the Lemhi County Historical Museum. At $2 per person and free to those under 16, it is quite a deal. The Museum is open 9 to 5, Monday through Saturday and offers an intimate glimpse into the region's past. The Historical Society is also organizing tours for runners and their families to present the mining and ranching heritage of the community. Tours will be free of charge but space will be limited. Information will be included in the runners' packages.
The jewel of the valley is the Sacajawea Center. Whether you learn primitive skills such as candle making, hide tanning or flint knapping at the Outdoor School, listen to lectures from nationally-recognized Lewis and Clark historians or simply stroll the grounds along the Lemhi River enjoying the many interpretive stations, a trip to the Center will be a highlight of your visit to Salmon. If you can afford the time, Heritage Days begins the weekend following the race.
Time is not an issue if you like to hike. It doesn't matter if you have a couple of hours or a couple of weeks, the Salmon-Challis National Forest offers endless hiking opportunities for all levels of hikers. For the more adventuresome, the largest wilderness area in the continental United States is located right here. The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area has steep, rugged mountains, deep canyons, and wild, whitewater rivers. Yet a two-hour drive from downtown Salmon delivers you to its doorstep. We are working with the Forest Service to offer interpretive hikes to runners and their families. Some of the topics will include wildfires and forest ecology. Check back on this site as the race nears for more information.
For the price of a one or three day fishing license, we'll point you to some of our favorite holes to try your luck on the local trout. It provides the perfect excuse to pack a lunch and sit by a bank. We are also working with Idaho Fish and Game to offer some fun and free clinics to runners and their families. As with the National Forest hikes, check back on this site as the race nears for more information.
For those of you interested in wildlife, just venture out the door of your lodging. Elk, deer, moose, mountain sheep, bear, coyotes, wolves. mountain lions and all of the smaller critters inhabit the hills and mountains surrounding Salmon. In fact, mule deer and sometimes bear, wander through the yards of Salmon residents. So grab your binoculars, pack a picnic and drive some of the excellent paved and dirt roads of the National Forest and surrounding areas.
If after the Marathon, you are interested in something more relaxing, try a soak in one of the hot springs in the area. Two of note include Goldbug and Sharkey Hot Springs. Goldbug Hot Springs require a three mile hike one way but are certainly worth it. The trail head begins just past the town of Elk Bend, approximately 20 miles south of Salmon on Highway 93. If you don't want a hike but still want a soak, then Sharkey Hot Springs are for you. Located a few miles above the race start in Tendoy, these Bureau of Land Management-maintained hot springs are just off the road and even have changing rooms.
For the ultimate in relaxation, how about a massage? Certified massage therapists Kathy Little and Annah Dahle will be providing free massage to runners at the finsih line in Island Park. But if you want a massage after hiking, riding or whitewater rafting, you can contact Little at 208-303-0468 or Dahle at 208-940-2170.
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