Clark Fork River Whitewater Rafting

Clark Fork River Whitewater Rafting

Location: Near Superior, Montana

Duration: 1-2 Day

Season: Summer

Distance: ~14 river miles, Class II-III whitewater

Difficulty: Moderate

Named after William Clark of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, the Clark Fork River boasts some of the biggest and best whitewater found in Montana. The Clark Fork is the largest river in the Northern Rockies.

It rises out of Montana's mountains along the Continental Divide near Butte and flows West 320 miles to Lake Pend Oreille. Its mountain canyons provide habitat to variety of wildlife including deer, moose, elk, bears, ospreys, hawks, turkey vultures, and eagles.

One of Western Montana's best whitewater rafting stretches during late summer, the later runoff of the Eastern slopes of the Bitterroot Range provides the Clark Fork with water when most other rivers are nearing their lows.

This post talks about a section of the river before Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille, where it flows through a deep rose-colored canyon called the Alberton Gorge. The Alberton Gorge is located approximately 35 miles West of Missoula and is a fantastic 1-day, 14 mile trip of Class II-III whitewater.

Canyon walls and submerged boulders constrict this big volume river, creating punchy rapids with tall waves and deep holes. And, although I-90 parallels the entire gorge making for easy access, the highway can seldom be seen or noticed.

The recommended flow for running the Alberton Gorge is 1,800 cfs - 15,000 cfs (cfs = cubic feet per second) for rafting with kayaking being had year-round. There are to main rapids on this section of river, Tumbleweed Rapid and Fang Rapid. There are no restrictions on group size.

The put-in at Cyr Bridge has a nice man-made ramp and the Forest Grove take-out at Tarkio is a nice paved ramp. There's also a sign at the put-in that lists all the rapids. Finally, camping is available on the river at the Fish Creek confluence.

NOTE: Running rivers is a dangerous activity and it would be unreasonable to inform people how to specifically run certain rapids because of the variance or changing nature of rapids based on river flows. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you scout any and all rapids you are unfamiliar with.

Now, specific to this section of river, we highly recommend that you definitely scout Tumbleweed and Fang Rapid. Tumbleweed is usually run river left and Fang is usually run river right, so left on Tumbleweed and right on Fang is the saying.

NOTE: If you would like to make this a longer multi-day trip, you can put-in above Cyr Bridge or take-out below the Tarkio exit, but the main whitewater section is through the Alberton Gorge, the rest is more of a float (with excellent fishing).

For pictures, map and more info click on Clark Fork River

See you on the river,
Greg