Hells Canyon of the Snake

Hells Canyon Dam to Pittsburg Landing · Class III–IV · ID and OR

Lottery

—no reading

No reading

Snapshot from Oct 22, 2026. Live reading loading.

Runnable range 5,000 to 25,000 cfs. This is a draft estimate that paddlers have not reviewed yet.

Season: Primary permit season May 28 to Sep 10 in 2027
Character: About 31 miles of the wild section through the deepest river gorge in North America, with big rapids and long pools.
Watch for: Flows are set by dam releases, and jet boats share the river.
Gauge: USGS 13290450
Snake River at Hells Canyon Dam
No reading in the Oct 22, 2026 snapshot.
Dam-controlled. Flows come from the Hells Canyon dam complex, not snowmelt in the canyon.
Permit: LotteryOpens Dec 1, in 28 days.
Apply Dec 1 to Jan 31. Weekend launches in the primary season are limited.
Apply on Recreation.gov Official page
Fees and rules
$6 non-refundable reservation fee, paid by card on Recreation.gov. No per-person recreation fee is listed.
For 2027 the primary season runs May 28 to Sep 10. Parties are limited to 24 people and 8 float craft. In the primary season, floats launching from Pittsburg are limited to 2 per day on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and Monday to Thursday and the secondary season are self-issued. The wild section runs from the Hells Canyon Creek launch to Upper Pittsburg Landing (about 31.5 miles). The scenic section runs about 36 miles below that. An invasive species sticker (Oregon or Idaho) is required.
Source: Recreation.gov permit page and Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The page does not describe the lottery order; check the Forest page for results dates.
Snowpack: No snowpack basin is linked to this run. Flows here are mostly set by dam releases, so snowpack is a poor guide.

Trip reports

Wavetrain is an early build. Flow readings are USGS provisional data and may be revised. Runnable ranges and run details are drafts for paddlers to review. Permit dates and rules come from the agency pages linked on each permit and can change. Snowpack figures come from NRCS SNOTEL stations, are provisional, and are grouped into basins by watershed, so they may differ from official NRCS basin reports. Nothing here replaces scouting, local knowledge or a conversation with a nearby outfitter.