Owyhee, Bruneau and Jarbidge Wild and Scenic Rivers Boating Guide

The Bureau of Land Management manages the public lands of the Owyhee Canyonlands, a huge and remote area of eastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho, and northern Nevada. Hidden within this vast high desert plateau are deep canyons carved by the Owyhee, Bruneau, and Jarbidge Rivers.The rivers of the Owyhee and Bruneau-Jarbidge systems offer something for nearly every level of boating experience. The Owyhee and Bruneau-Jarbidge river systems provide visitors with unsurpassed solitude in canyons of unique beauty and form. From placid pools to turbulent whitewater; from vertical cliffs to steep grassy slopes; and from wildlife, such as California bighorn sheep to wildflowers, including the Bruneau River flox, these rivers and their canyons present visitors with challenging and extraordinary experiences.In 1968, Congress enacted the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, establishing a system for preserving outstanding free-flowing rivers. In 1984, Congress designated 120 miles of the Owyhee River in Oregon as a wild river component of the National Wild and Scenic River System. The Owyhee National Wild River extends from the Oregon-Idaho border to the Owyhee Reservoir, excluding 14 miles near Rome, Oregon. A wild river designation is intended to protect the free-flowing character of the river, along with its outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, wildlife, and cultural values.In 2001, the Owyhee County Commissioners convened a diverse array of interests with the goal to find common ground solutions to public land issues in Owyhee County, including protection of the ranching way of life, wild canyons, rivers, and cultural resources. Chaired by attorney Fred Grant, the Owyhee Initiative was born.In 2006, the Owyhee Initiative produced an agreement with public input that set the course to protect cultural resources and the viability of the ranching economy as well as designate the very best of the Owyhee canyonlands as wilderness and wild and scenic rivers.Senator Mike Crapo introduced the Owyhee Public Lands Management Act in the U.S. Congress as part of the implementation of the 2006 Owyhee Initiative agreement. The Act, passed Congress and signed by President Obama in 2009, designated 6 wilderness areas and 317 miles of Wild and Scenic River in Owyhee County, Idaho, that consists of 16 different river segments. Wild and Scenic segments in the Owyhee River system are: Battle Creek (wild)—23.4 miles,Big Jacks Creek (wild)—35.0 miles,Cottonwood Creek (wild)—2.6 miles,Deep Creek (wild)—13.1 miles,Dickshooter Creek (wild)—9.25 miles,Duncan Creek (wild)—0.9 miles,Little Jacks Creek (wild)—12.4 miles,North Fork Owyhee River (recreational)—5.7 miles; (wild)—15.1 miles,Owyhee River (wild)—67.3 miles,Red Canyon Creek (wild)—4.6 miles,South Fork Owyhee River (wild)—31.4 miles; (recreational) - 1.2 miles,and Wickahoney Creek (wild)—1.5 miles. The Wild and Scenic segments within the Bruneau and Jarbidge rivers; Bruneau River (wild)— 39.3 miles; (recreational)—0.6 miles,Jarbidge River (wild)—28.8 miles,Sheep Creek (wild)—25.6 miles, andWest Fork Bruneau River (wild)—0.35 miles.

• Know Before You Go
• Owyhee River
• Bruneau & Jarbidge Rivers
• Contacts