Clearwater National Forest | |
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![]() Lochsa River Canyon | |
Location | Idaho, United States |
Nearest city | Orofino, ID |
Coordinates | 46°33′4″N115°9′37″W / 46.55111°N 115.16028°W |
Area | 2,612,000 acres (10,570 km2) |
Established | July 1, 1908 [1] |
Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
Website | Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests |
Clearwater National Forest with headquarters on the Nez Perce Reservation at Kamiah is located in North Central Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, and on the south and west by the Nez Perce National Forest and Palouse Prairie.
The North Fork of the Clearwater and the Lochsa rivers provide miles of tumbling white water interspersed with quiet pools for migratory and resident fish. The mountains provide a habitat for raccoon, elk, moose, black bear, two species of fox, bald eagle, marten, white-tailed and mule deer, coyote, wolf packs, cougar, boreal owl, river otter, muskrat, beaver, pika, fisher, mink, and mountain goat.
In 2012, Clearwater National Forest and Nez Perce National Forest were administratively combined as Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, with headquarters in Kamiah, Idaho. [2]
The forest is 2 million acres (8,100 km2) and contains mountains and river drainage areas. The Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers flow through the forest region. Portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness are also located in the forest. In descending order of land area the forest is located in Idaho, Clearwater, and Shoshone counties. Forest Service headquarters are located in Kamiah, Idaho. There are local ranger district offices in Kooskia, Powell (near Lolo, Montana, on the Idaho/Montana state line), Orofino, and Potlatch. [3] The North Fork Ranger Station & Visitor Center in Orofino is your one-stop-shop for information about the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests, as well as Dworshak Dam Visitor Center and Dworshak Reservoir, popular recreation sites just nine miles northwest of Orofino.
The Clearwater National Forest is home to the well-known Jerry Johnson Hot Springs and the smaller Weir Creek Hot Springs. Both springs are accessible via trails from U.S. Highway 12 and are popular tourist attractions, drawing visitors from Idaho and western Montana.
Lewis and Clark travelled through the region in their journey westward in 1805–1804. Upon reaching Lolo Pass at the eastern edge of the forest on September 15, 1805, William Clark was quoted as saying,
From this mountain I could observe high rugged mountains in every direction as far as I could see.
The Clearwater National Forest was established on July 1, 1908, with 2,687,860 acres (10,877.4 km2) from parts of Coeur d'Alene National Forest and Bitterroot National Forest. On October 31, 1934, part of Selway National Forest was added. [4]
A small part of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness lies within Clearwater National Forest, although the largest portion of the wilderness lies in either the neighboring Nez Perce National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, or Lolo National Forest.
Climate data for Clearwater National Forest | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 27.6 (−2.4) | 29.4 (−1.4) | 34.9 (1.6) | 41.0 (5.0) | 51.2 (10.7) | 57.6 (14.2) | 69.9 (21.1) | 69.6 (20.9) | 58.8 (14.9) | 44.5 (6.9) | 32.6 (0.3) | 25.2 (−3.8) | 45.2 (7.3) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 15.4 (−9.2) | 14.2 (−9.9) | 17.7 (−7.9) | 22.2 (−5.4) | 29.7 (−1.3) | 36.8 (2.7) | 44.6 (7.0) | 44.6 (7.0) | 37.7 (3.2) | 27.9 (−2.3) | 19.9 (−6.7) | 14.7 (−9.6) | 27.1 (−2.7) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 8.9 (230) | 8.6 (220) | 8.4 (210) | 7.3 (190) | 6.6 (170) | 5.7 (140) | 2.6 (66) | 2.3 (58) | 3.2 (81) | 6.8 (170) | 10.6 (270) | 11.1 (280) | 82.1 (2,085) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 65.0 (165) | 55.8 (142) | 50.1 (127) | 25.8 (66) | 7.0 (18) | 3.0 (7.6) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 3.0 (7.6) | 12.6 (32) | 46.2 (117) | 80.4 (204) | 348.9 (886.2) |
Source: Prism [5] |
The Nez Perce are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region has been occupied for at least 11,500 years.
Clearwater County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,734. The county seat is Orofino. Established in 1911, the county was named after the Clearwater River.
Kamiah is a city in Lewis and Idaho counties in the U.S. state of Idaho. The largest city in Lewis County, it extends only a small distance into Idaho County, south of Lawyer Creek. The population was 1,295 at the 2010 census, up from 1,160 in 2000. The city lies in the narrow valley of the Clearwater River; downstream are Orofino and Lewiston, at the confluence with the Snake River.
Lolo Pass, elevation 5,233 feet (1,595 m), is a mountain pass in the western United States, in the Bitterroot Range of the northern Rocky Mountains. It is on the border between the states of Montana and Idaho, approximately forty miles (65 km) west-southwest of Missoula, Montana.
North Central Idaho is an area which spans the central part of the state of Idaho and borders Oregon, Montana, and Washington. It is the southern half of the state's Panhandle region and is rich in agriculture and natural resources. Lewis and Clark traveled through this area on their journey to the Pacific Ocean in September 1805, crossing Lolo Pass and continuing westward in canoes on the Clearwater River. They returned the following spring on their way eastward.
The Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness is a protected wilderness area in the states of Idaho and Montana, in the northwestern United States. At 1.3 million acres (5,300 km²), it is one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the United States.
The Gospel Hump Wilderness is a federally-protected wilderness area that covers 205,796 acres (83,283 ha) of the state of Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it received wilderness designation on February 24, 1978 through the passage of the Endangered American Wilderness Act and is part of Nez Perce National Forest. As part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Gospel Hump Wilderness is an area where human development and use are restricted and people are to remain only visitors.
Dworshak National Fish Hatchery is a mitigation hatchery located on the Clearwater River within the Nez Perce Reservation near Ahsahka, in north-central Idaho, United States. It was constructed in 1969 by the Army Corps of Engineers, and is co-managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nez Perce Tribe. The hatchery is one of the largest combination producers of anadromous (migratory) fish in the world. These fish make a 1000-mile round trip to the ocean and back to spawn in the Clearwater River. The Dworshak Dam blocks access to the historical spawning areas on the North Fork-Clearwater River for the steelhead, and it is too high for a fish ladder.
The Nez Perce National Forest is a 4,000,000-acre (16,000 km2) United States National Forest located in west-central Idaho. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Clearwater National Forest, on the west by a portion of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest and on the south by the Payette National Forest.
The Battle of the Clearwater was a battle in the Idaho Territory between the Nez Perce under Chief Joseph and the United States Army. Under General O. O. Howard, the army surprised a Nez Perce village; the Nez Perce counter-attacked and inflicted significant casualties on the soldiers, but were forced to abandon the village.
The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States.
Bitterroot National Forest comprises 1.587 million acres (6,423 km2) in west-central Montana and eastern Idaho of the United States. It is located primarily in Ravalli County, Montana, but also has acreage in Idaho County, Idaho (29.24%), and Missoula County, Montana (0.49%).
Lolo National Forest is a national forest located in western Montana, United States with the western boundary being the state of Idaho. The forest spans 2 million acres (8,000 km2) and includes four wilderness areas; the Scapegoat and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness are partially within the forest while the Welcome Creek and Rattlesnake Wildernesses are solely in Lolo National Forest. The forest was created in 1906 from 4 different previous forests which were combined for administrative purposes. Lolo National Forest is west of the Continental divide and has a biodiversity influenced by both continental and maritime weather creating a transitional forest that has a high number of different plant and tree species.
Nez Perce Pass is a mountain pass in the Bitterroot Mountains on the border between the U.S. states of Idaho and Montana. The pass is at an elevation of 6,587 feet (2,008 m) above sea level. The Nez Perce Pass Trailhead offers access to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and the Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness.
The Lochsa River is in the northwestern United States, in the mountains of north central Idaho. It is one of two primary tributaries of the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River in the Clearwater National Forest. Lochsa is a Nez Perce word meaning rough water. The Salish name is Ep Smɫí, "It Has Salmon."
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.
U.S. Route 12 (US-12) is a United States Numbered Highway in North Central Idaho. It extends 174.410 miles (280.686 km) from the Washington state line in Lewiston east to the Montana state line at Lolo Pass, generally along the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and is known as the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway. It was previously known as the Lewis and Clark Highway.
Selway may refer to:
The Clearwater River is in the northwestern United States, in north central Idaho. Its length is 74.8 miles (120.4 km), it flows westward from the Bitterroot Mountains along the Idaho-Montana border, and joins the Snake River at Lewiston. In October 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition descended the Clearwater River in dugout canoes, putting in at "Canoe Camp," five miles (8 km) downstream from Orofino; they reached the Columbia Bar and the Pacific Ocean about six weeks later.
Syringa is an unincorporated community in the northwest United States in Idaho County, Idaho. Named for the shrub which grows in the area [Philadelphus lewisii], the state flower, it is in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC-8). At low elevation, the climate is mild, with an average annual precipitation exceeding 25 inches (65 cm).