02/26/2026
Why You’re Not Winning The River Permit Lottery | Permits for the United States’ most iconic river trips are difficult to secure, and it’s no surprise why. Data from the U.S. Forest Service reveals more than 58,000 applications were submitted in 2023 for permits to four of the West’s top rivers: the Middle Fork of the Salmon, the Main Salmon, the Selway and the Snake River’s Hells Canyon section. However, only 1,069 permits were available.
Applications have nearly tripled since 2010 for those four rivers, according to reporting in The Colorado Sun, leaving boaters with increasingly long odds of securing a permit. The most competitive permits were for the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and the Selway River. More than 21,000 boaters applied for 373 permits to float the Middle Fork in 2023. Odds were bleaker on the Selway River, where 10,294 boaters applied for just 62 permits.
It’s competitive outside Idaho, too. In 2023, almost 12,000 boaters applied for 423 permits on the San Juan River in New Mexico and Utah; 11,209 boaters put in for 377 permits on the Green River in Utah; and 18,508 boaters applied for 293 permits on the Yampa River in Colorado.
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✍️: Caleb Roberts
📷: Brenna Kelly
📖: This article was first published in Issue 71 of Paddling Magazine.
