6 Great Self-Permit River Trips

River permit season is a time of happy anticipation. Will the river gods finally smile on you with a Middle Fork permit this? What to do if you get the “unfortunately, your application wasn’t successful” email?

Don’t despair. Excellent self-permit river trips abound in the West. (Self-permit rivers don’t have use restrictions, so you can just show up at the put-in and fill out a permit form, or you can download one online.) You can also look for cancellations throughout the season, especially if your crew is flexible on dates.

Here’s a rundown of our favorite self-permit multi-day trips. Some of these are shorter than we’d like, but in most cases you can build in some layovers to stretch out your river time.

Lower Salmon River in Idaho

The Lower Salmon River in Idaho is such a fantastic stretch of river that it’s a wonder it isn’t permitted. (Although, according to the Bureau of Land Management, the Lower Salmon meets the criteria for designation as Wild & Scenic.) The Lower Salmon has good water flows throughout the season (even into late July), a continuous supply of pool-and-drop Class II through Class IV rapids, pristine water, and sugar-sand beaches.

Raft in Lower Salmon River whitewater — *Lower Salmon has Class II through IV whitewater*

This stretch of the Salmon starts at Vinegar Creek, about 25 miles from Stanley, Idaho, and runs 112 miles to the confluence of the Snake River just below Hell’s Canyon. More than 50 miles of this run is in a roadless area. Small-mouth bass fishing is lively (they’re an invasive nuisance, so you can have at ‘em), you’ll find plenty of cliffs and logs to high-jump from, and we’ve never encountered bad weather on the Lower Salmon.

The only downside to the Lower Salmon is that once you hit the confluence of the Snake, the river widens and slows, and you might have to fight an upriver wind in those last 20 miles to the take-out at Heller Bar, near the confluence of the Salmon and the Grand Ronde.

Wide sandy beaches on Lower Salmon River — *Camping is spectacular on the wide, sandy beaches of the Lower Salmon River*

You can tailor the length of your trip by choosing one of several put-in options (we usually put in at Hammer Creek). You can fill out a permit at several of the launch sites, or fill out a Lower Salmon permit online at the BLM site. You’ll also need an Idaho invasive species sticker. This BLM Lower Salmon boater guide has good information. And check out our Planning a Lower Salmon River Trip post for a complete rundown of logistics for this stellar trip.

Labyrinth Canyon on the Green River

Labyrinth Canyon on the Green River is not a whitewater paradise, but if you want quietude and soaring canyon walls, this is a top-shelf pick. Labyrinth is perfect especially for first-time river runners, paddlers wanting to test out new boats (this is a great run for stand-up paddleboarders or canoeists), and anyone who just needs a retreat from TikTok for a few days.

Although I’ve been on the Green River through many stretches, Labyrinth Canyon is where the river is a truly mesmerizing jade green color. The scenery is pure Canyonlands-style stark beauty. Nightfall brings unbeatable stargazing.

Green water of Green River in Labyrinth Canyon — *Green water in the Green River through Labyrinth Canyon*

You can run Labyrinth as a 45-mile or 58-mile stretch, depending on where you put in, making this run doable as a long weekend. And it’s runnable most of the year: A fall trip would be a good plan especially if you want to avoid the worst of the heat and bugs that can plague late-summer trips.

For a more detailed description, check out our RiverBent guide to Labyrinth Canyon. Labyrinth Canyon permits are available from the BLM site.

Sand bar camp on Labyrinth Canyon Green River — *Labyrinth Canyon has beautiful sand bar camps with spectacular views*

Escalante Canyon on the Gunnison River

Escalante Canyon on the Gunnison River is another great choice for families with kids, newcomers to river running, or anyone who wants to try out a new craft. It’s got a good amount of volume, so it’s runnable even later in the summer, but only one Class II rapid. Although the put-in scenery is underwhelming, the vista opens up as the red canyons walls rise to nearly 8,000 feet.

At the confluence of the Gunnison and Little Dominguez Creek, a very short hike will bring you to a gorgeous waterfall. This area is a hikers’ mecca: the Escalante-Dominguez Natural Conservation Area encompasses 200,000-plus acres of protected wilderness.

You can pick up a permit for floating this section at the Escalante Boat Ramp. Camp sites aren’t assigned at this point, but the BLM is planning to designate them in the future, so you’ll see markers for some even now. One tricky aspect of this trip is that in some areas it’s hard to distinguish the public land (where you can camp) from the private land (where you can’t). Study the maps, and consider bringing a GPS that helps sort this out.

For a detailed description of this run, including regulations and put-in and take-in info, see our post on running the Gunnison River through Escalante-Dominguez Canyon. And here’s a quick video with highlights:

Short self-permit runs

In addition to these decently long multi-day runs that you can do without a permit, a few more classics that we love are:

Ruby-Horsethief Canyon. Yes, it can get crowded. And it doesn’t have much whitewater. But it’s a classic. And because it’s big-volume, it’s almost always runnable. (We even floated Ruby-Horsethief for Thanksgiving.) It’s always there for you.

Ruby-Horsethief Canyon on the Colorado River in late fall — *Ruby-Horsethief Canyon on the Colorado River is a perennial favorite for family raft trips, and one that can be run late into fall*

Gunnison Gorge on the Gunnison River. This is a short (13-mile) trip that can seem like a true multi-day because the logistics are difficult (the mile-long, steep trail to the put-in usually involves horse-packing raft gear down)—which helps to cut down on the crowds in this singularly spectacular canyon. Even though you can only squeeze in two nights maximum on the river, it’s worth it.

Paddling Gunnison Gorge on Gunnison River — *Running the Gunnison Gorge on the Gunnison River requires figuring out some logistics, but it’s worth it*

Browns Canyon on the Arkansas River. If you’ve never done Browns Canyon except as a day trip (or, more likely, a half-day trip), you’re missing out on a beautiful wilderness experience. Once the bazillion commercial and private boaters have swooped through, stillness descends on the canyon as the sun sets, and you can spend a lovely evening fishing or listening to your favorite rapid down below. Browns has several marked campsites. Check our Browns Canyon post for details about camp sites, rapids, and other essential info.

Start looking for river trip cancellations

If you were denied a permit in the lottery and you just can’t give up, you should start trolling the permit sites for cancellations. The Recreation.gov site makes it easy to see the calendar of upcoming available permits. Except for the most wildly popular rivers, you can likely pick up a cancellation if you’re diligent and your party is flexible on dates. Boaters who win permits have only a couple of weeks to confirm: In most cases, permits that are unconfirmed by early March (the exact date varies depending on the river) will be thrown into the cancellation pool and awarded on a first-come basis.

Highlights from Westwater Canyon run in September 2020

Another tip: Plan your multi-day trips for the shoulder seasons. This tactic doesn’t work for rivers that have short windows for adequate water volume. But permits for bigger rivers—like Westwater Canyon on the Colorado or Desolation Canyon on the Green—are typically easy to pick up in September. And if you have plenty of time and don’t mind lesser whitewater, these trips can be delightfully unmarred by crowds, heat, and bugs.

Striking out on permits doesn’t mean your river season is doomed: With persistence and some research, you’ll find plenty of rivers to paddle—some that might become your new favorites.