Selway River facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Selway River
Selway River at the Goat Creek rapid
Course of the river
Show map of Idaho Show map of the United States Location of the mouth of the Selway River in Idaho
Country	United States
State	Idaho
County	Idaho
Physical characteristics
Main source	Southeast of Stripe Mountain Bitterroot National Forest, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Bitterroot Mountains 6,857 ft (2,090 m) 45°29′49″N 114°44′37″W / 45.49694°N 114.74361°W / 45.49694; -114.74361
River mouth	Meets Lochsa River to form Middle Fork Clearwater River Lowell, Nez Perce National Forest 1,453 ft (443 m) 46°08′25″N 115°35′58″W / 46.14028°N 115.59944°W / 46.14028; -115.59944
Length	100 mi (160 km)
Basin features
Basin size	2,013 sq mi (5,210 km2)
National Wild and Scenic River
Type:	Wild, Recreational
Designated:	October 2, 1968
Reference #:	P.L. 90-542

The Selway River is a large tributary of the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River in the U.S. state of Idaho. It flows within the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the Bitterroot National Forest, and the Nez Perce National Forest of North Central Idaho. The entire length of the Selway was included by the United States Congress in 1968 as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The main stem of the Selway is 100 miles (160 km) in length from the headwaters in the Bitterroots to the confluence with the Lochsa near Lowell to form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. The Selway River drains a 2,013-square-mile (5,210 km²) basin in Idaho County.

History

The Selway River is home to Chinook salmon. Four salmon channels were built "in the mid-1960s by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and by the Job Corps ... along the Selway to help re-establish the spring chinook run after hydroelectric dams were built downstream." The river was stocked with salmon eggs and fry "each fall through 1981, and again in 1985." A 1993 book about the project, Indian Creek Chronicles, won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award.

Flora

• Cedar - Western red cedar
• ferns
• Firs – Douglas and grand fir
• Huckleberries
• Pine - ponderosa pine
• Spruce - Engelmann spruce

Wildlife

Recreation

• Backcountry skiing
• Camping
• Fly fishing – Limits and catch-and-release
• Hiking
• Whitewater rafting – permits required
• Hunting

Images for kids

• 

  White-tail deer in the Selway River