Recreation in the Boise River Watershed

Submitted by Steve DeMers on Mon, 2017-07-10 00:00

The Boise river watershed is a vast and dynamic system that is used by thousands of people from many walks of life.  The headwaters of this system start on the backside of the Sawtooth mountains in central Idaho.  There are 3 main branches of the Boise river in this area:  the north, middle, and south forks.  In these upper reaches you can do many outdoor activities including:  fishing, camping, hunting, rafting, and hiking to name a few.  These areas generally consist of swift moving water so water safety is a concern, especially during high water.  Both the middle and south forks have dams that have been constructed for flood control as well as water storage.  Anderson Ranch Reservoir is located north of Mountain Home on the south fork and Arrowrock as well as Lucky Peak Dam are located on the middle fork after all 3 forks have merged into one main river.  All of the above activities mentioned above can be done at the reservoirs as well as powerboat recreation, sailing, and swimming.  When water leaves Lucky Peak dam is travels through the town of Boise and during the hot summer months floating the river has become very popular.  As the rivers winds its way through Eagle, Star, Middleton, Caldwell, Notus, and Parma it slows down considerably.  In these areas fishing and waterfowl hunting are very popular.  Much of the water in the lower end of the valley is being returned to the river and is much more turbid than when it entered mainly because of soil erosion from farm fields in the area.  This watershed is large and diverse and has thousands of people that use it daily.  

What types of activities do you like to do on the Boise River?  

Comments

Fabiola Stewart's picture

Have not lived in Idaho for very long but I did enjoy my first rafting trip here. It was a lot of fun. I most have enjoyed the leasurely float down the Boise River with my visiting family. I have witnessed that so many do congregate around the waterways for recreation. We went camping and the few off the south fork of the Boise was beautiful. Although noticed that the waterfront camping locations were packed tight with campers wanting to be right on the water. It provides the cool that everyone needs in the summer heat. I preffered the trees that grow so tall for shade and a trip to the water occassionally. However, these trees would not be able to survive without the water. Water does connect us all. 

Fabiola Stewart's picture

Have not lived in Idaho for very long but I did enjoy my first rafting trip here. It was a lot of fun. I most have enjoyed the leasurely float down the Boise River with my visiting family. I have witnessed that so many do congregate around the waterways for recreation. We went camping and the few off the south fork of the Boise was beautiful. Although noticed that the waterfront camping locations were packed tight with campers wanting to be right on the water. It provides the cool that everyone needs in the summer heat. I preffered the trees that grow so tall for shade and a trip to the water occassionally. However, these trees would not be able to survive without the water. Water does connect us all. 

Bethany Updike's picture

What a great list of activities that take place on or near the Boise River! I have lived in Boise for eight years and have enjoyed many of the activities you listed. For me, the most common one is floating from Barber Park to Ann Morrison in the summer. It's such a great way to cool off when the temperatures get above 100 like they've been this week. I've enjoyed many picnics in Julia Davis with the river in the background. I've also been boating at Lucky Peak. There are so many recreational opportunities to advantage of in the Boise River watershed, some that I haven't even tried yet!

I can't remember a time that my family wasn't doing something Outdoors along the Boise River.

We have always gone boating up at Lucky Peak. I remember catching a ton of perch at Anderson Ranch from the time I was a very young boy my father is told me "anybody can fish ingood weather" because the first weekend there it rained all weekend.

During High School I remember floating the Boise River quite a few times.

I think that here in Idaho the outdoor recreation is such a big part of the lifestyle, and tourism.

Casey Weissenbach's picture

When I first began thinking about my answer to this question I didn't think I would have much to contribute since I'm not into fishing or boating. Then I started reflecting on how this summer, with all the flooding and closures along the Greenbelt, has been different from past summers. I usually go rafting down the river once or twice per summer and I love walking down the Greenbelt and taking in all the sights and sounds of the wildlife around. One of my favorite stops along my walks is the MK Nature Center. It provides a strong reminder of how many living things rely on the river I love.

Troy Gleave's picture

The way we have manipulated the Boise River Watershed has given us the opportunity to live in Boise and the local area. I love all the outdoor activites that Steve mentioned and have done all those things (except sailing, I'm not a sailor), but the other big part is that the watershed helps allow so many people to live and thrive in the desert. Driving through southern Wyoming this last week really opened my eyes up to how lucky we are in Idaho to have the ability to dam and use the water that flows from the mountains here to sustain a very outdoor friendly life in the Boise valley.  The yards and all the houses and all the people live here only because we have found a way to effiecintly use the water in Idaho not only to live here, but to get out and have fun living here with such a diverse range of opportunities.  I love it here and am so thankful we have been able to make this partnership of water/land/people work so far and hope we can make it better.