The days are getting shorter, which means it’s time to start applying for 2025 river permits. Here’s a complete guide to applying for river trips—including tips for picking up cancellations—for most of the popular multi-day river trip in the Rocky Mountain West.

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River Permit Info Quick Links

Middle Fork of Salmon
View of the Middle Fork of the Salmon, one our favorite rivers—and everyone else’s—so winning a permit through the lottery system is difficult
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Four Rivers (Selway, Main Salmon, Middle Fork of the Salmon, and Hell’s Canyon on the Snake Rive

You apply for permits for all of these through the Four Rivers lottery. Any of these permits are difficult to pull, the hardest being the Middle Fork and the Selway: Demand for permits to run these rivers in central Idaho and eastern Oregon is high. They all offer supreme wilderness experiences, varying levels of whitewater, and—the clincher—delightful hot springs. Some of us have been applying to these rivers for three decades and have never succeeded.

Other resources for the Four Rivers lottery:

Four Rivers permit deadlines and application links

  • Application period: December 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025 (11:59 pm MT); results are announced February 14
  • Deadline to confirm reservation: March 15
  • Unconfirmed and canceled reservations are released to others on a first-come basis starting March 16
  • Selway: 2025 lottery permit season: May 15 through July 31
    • Selway river permit application site
    • Cancellations: Permit holders must cancel 15 days before launch date to avoid a late cancellation or no-show penalty
    • Group size limit: 16
    • Off-season (August 1 through May 14) permits not required
  • Hell’s Canyon Snake River: 2025 lottery permit season: May 23 through September 10
  • Salmon River: 2025 lottery permit season: June 20 through September 7
    • Salmon River permit application site
    • Cancellations: Permit holders must cancel 21 days before launch date to avoid a late cancellation or no-show penalty
    • Group size limit: Varies with number of river days
    • Permits available on first-come basis for pre- and post-lottery season
  • Middle Fork: 2025 lottery permit season: May 28 through September 3
    • Middle of the Salmon application site
    • Group size limit: Varies depending on number of days on the river
    • Cancellations: Permit holders must cancel their permits 21 days before launch to avoid a late cancellation or no-show penalty; no-shows risk being prohibited from holding future Middle Fork permits for 3 years
    • Permits for current-year post-season dates (September 4 through December 1) and pre-season dates (January 1 through May 27) for the following year are available on October 1 each year at the Middle Fork app site on Rec.gov
    • Guide to running the Middle Fork of the Salmon
Rafting below Boundary Creek put-in on Middle Fork of Salmon
Rafting in the narrow canyon below Boundary Creek on the Middle Fork of the Salmon

Yampa and Green through Dinosaur National Monument

The Yampa River and the Gates of Lodore section of the Green River in Colorado and Utah are both gorgeous trips in Dinosaur National Monument that have interesting but not outrageous whitewater and fantastic hikes. Although the Green River is floatable most of the year, the Yampa flows depend on snowpack so the season is considerably shorter.

Gates of Lodore Green River permit deadlines and application links

Yampa River permit deadlines and application links

Tiger wall on Yampa River
Floating past the Tiger Wall on the Yampa River

Green River through Desolation and Gray Canyons

Although we’ve long considered Deso our backup river, it has a special place in our hearts because it’s extremely remote, it’s family-friendly, and it has fantastic sandy beaches. As with any desert trip, it can get super-hot in the summer, so bring plenty of sun-protection clothes and water (filters don’t work well on this silty water, but check this post for water-hauling tips).

Desolation Canyon Green River permit deadlines and application links

Rafts on beach in Desolation Canyon on the Green River in Utah
Desolation Canyon

Rogue River

The Rogue River in Oregon is a fantastic, wildly beautiful river that was one of the original eight rivers included in the 1968 Wild & Scenic River Act. These days, about 20,000 people float the Rogue National Wild & Scenic River each year. This river has challenging whitewater and beautiful hikes throughout. It’s also reliably runnable through the fall.

Rogue River permit deadlines and application links

Raft on Rogue River
Raft on Rogue River

Salt River

The Salt River in Arizona is a magical run that is extra elusive because the permit season is short—March 1 through May 15—and in some years, the water is so low that no permits are issued. If you’re lucky enough to get a permit, you’ll appreciate seeing pine trees and saguaro cacti commingling. The Salt whitewater is no joke—this river has plenty of Class III-IV rapids and the early spring season means the water is frigid. Bring your dry suit!

Salt River permit deadlines and application links

  • 2025 permit season: March 1 through May 15
  • Salt River permit application site
  • Application period: December 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025 (11:59 pm MT); results are announced February 10
  • Deadline for permit confirmation: February 20
  • Group size limit: 15
  • Cancellations can be picked up on first-come basis starting February 21 through the Rec.gov application site
  • U.S. Forest Service Salt River boating information page
  • Salt River map with rapids and campsites

Smith River in Montana

The Smith River in Montana is a superb family trip, with swiftly moving water (but no whitewater to speak of), legendary fishing, and fantastic hiking.

The Smith River lottery process changed in 2024 a few ways that mainly affect non-residents—for the worse.

  • The number of non-resident permits can’t exceed 10 percent of all available permits
  • A new “bonus point” system allows applicants to purchase an extra chance in the drawing ($5 for residents and $50 for non-residents), and these bonus points accumulate over the years for those who are unsuccessful
  • Applicants choose only one launch date (most available slots are filled after the first round)

Although pit toilets were in place at the Smith’s designated campsites for years, starting in 2024 river runners are now required to pack out their own waste. Back to the groover! (Check out our roundup of river toilets and Montana FWP’s list of approved toilet systems for the Smith River.) The good news is a SCAT machine is now available at Eden Bridge take-out. For more information about the permit process, camps, and tips for avoiding confrontations with bears, check out our post on planning a Smith River trip.

Smith River permit application deadlines and links

Smith River from canyon cave
Hiking is spectacular on the Smith River in Montana

San Juan River

The San Juan River in Utah is a beautiful, mellow float in southeastern Utah that’s perfect for families with kids—just watch the weather forecast to avoid potential flash floods. Many camps accommodate large groups, and you can choose various trip lengths and sections with varying levels of rapids.

If you don’t win a permit through the lottery, which applies to trips that launch between April 15 and July 15, you can usually pick up a cancellation or reserve a trip in advance for launches after prime season.

San Juan River permit application deadlines and links

  • 2025 lottery permit season: April 15 through July 15
  • Application period: December 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025 (11:59 pm MT); results are announced February 12
  • Deadline for permit confirmation: March 15
  • Cancellations become available on March 16
  • Non-lottery permits available after December 1, 2024, for launch dates from Janu 1, 2025, through April 14, 2025
  • San Juan River planning guide
  • Bureau of Land Management San Juan River permit information page
  • San Juan lottery application at Recreation.gov
Raft with bimini on San Juan River
Floating through red canyons of the San Juan River

How to apply for lottery river permits

River permits for the most popular multi-day stretches in the western U.S. are awarded through a lottery process that opens December 1 and closes January 31. Most of the permitted rivers are managed by federal entities, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service, National Park Services, or others—sometimes in cooperation with one another. Some river sections require permits year-round; others only during the high-demand period. 

Results are typically announced mid-February, affording Valentine’s Day smiles or tears. If you applied for a lottery permit, you will receive an email with your results. Although this process means you might never get the opportunity to run a particular stretch of river, limiting private-boater permits protects the rivers we love from overuse. (Check out “The River Permit Lottery” on the NRS blog Duct Tape Diaries for Eric Johnson’s excellent discourse on why we all need—and hate—the river permit lottery system.)

Here are our tips for applying for river permit award through a lottery system:

Study the water flows and usage data

When planning a river trip that will happen months from now, the tricky part is picking dates during which the river flow will be right for your group—not too high for your skill levels and not so low that you won’t be able to get your boats down the river. Although pervasive drought across the western U.S. continues to shorten the season for many popular multi-day rivers, some areas had decent flows in 2024. To research current conditions, check out the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, the Northwest River Forecast Center, and the California Nevada River Forecast Center. When in doubt, call local outfitters to discuss water levels that would be right for your group, and choose your dates accordingly.

With an increase in popularity of running permitted rivers in general (check out the River Radius podcast episode on river permits for some astounding statistics on the exponential growth of river permit applications), the odds are getting longer each year. Hedge your bets by compiling a list of multi-day trips that almost always have water and are self-permitted (meaning that they require some sort of registration but private use is not restricted): Check out “6 Great Self-Permit River Trips” for a few ideas.

Identify your core river trip crew

Communicate with the folks you typically run rivers with to determine generally available time frames for the next summer, top river choices, and water flow comfort levels. Some permit applications require you to state the number of people in your party at the outset, so have a group size in mind. In some cases (as with the Middle Fork of the Salmon River), the smaller your group, the more days you can spend on the river.  

Research your short list of river trips

Our crew can usually only do one full multi-day trip a year, so we try to pick one that is accessible within a day’s drive, has decent whitewater but not too crazy, offers a wilderness experience, and has either great camps or hikes or both.

The more people in your group applying for permits, the higher your chances of pulling a permit (theoretically, anyway). For years, we applied for permits with the same 10 or so folks (four or five families) and had a fair amount of luck.

We’ve pulled a few permits that we had to let go because of lack of water. Our target launch window has been between July 4 and the end of July. This time frame works best for various work and school schedules. Applying late in the season also means we’re going to miss the big whitewater and we might not even have enough water for the trip (note the previous discussion about recent low-water flows). We also pick mid-week launch dates, but have no idea whether that has improved our odds. (For more info about how to improve your odds, check out the river permit application success graphs compiled by Down River Equipment.)

Large group on river trip
Theoretically, the more people in your group who apply for permits, the more likely you’ll be to score one

Submit the permit application

Apply for a permit at Recreation.gov or the permit-granting entity if it’s not a federal resource. On the Rec.gov application page for each river, you’ll find the essential information about the permit season, application deadlines, and how to pick up a cancellation.

The Rec.gov site includes an overview of the river, a “need to know” tab that specifies the minimum age of the permit holder (typically 18), maximum group size, trip length, expected qualifications of the trip leader, fishing regulations, and other important info.

The page also includes info about fees/cancellations, directions to the launch site, and contact information for the governing agency. To apply, you need to set up an account and pay the registration fee with a credit card. In most cases, you’ll receive lottery results by Valentine’s Day. 

San Juan River in Utah is a great family float in a beautiful canyon

Claim your permit

If you get happy news, you need to pay attention to the instructions for using the permit, starting with signaling that you’re going to use the permit and, in most cases, confirming the size of party, number and types of boats, and names of people in your party. You can usually edit these details as the trip draws closer. If you’re the trip leader, be sure to confirm your trip by the deadline or your launch date will be put into the cancellation pool for other boaters to claim on a first-come basis.

Plan your trip

We have posts on many of these river trips in our River Info section, where you’ll find descriptions of each stretch, descriptions of rapids, and notes about the downsides and upsides for each river as well as detailed permit processes and additional resources. In our Trip Planning section, you’ll find river trip planning guidelines, including how to plan multi-day river trips, how to plan river meals, and how to research river flows for your target launch date.  

Great self-permitted multi-day river trips

If you strike out in the lottery (as many of us do every year), don’t despair. There are plenty of great multi-day trips that are either non-permitted or have good odds for cancellations. For more information about self-permit river options, see “6 Great Self-Permit River Trips.”

  • Lower Salmon in Idaho. Magically clear water, fun and continuous whitewater, white sandy beaches, great fishing, and no rain or bugs that I can remember. This section meets the Snake River just below Hell’s Canyon, and the last day can be a slog if it’s windy. But everything else about this trip is 5 stars, including the cliff-jumping. For now, the Lower Salmon is self-permitted; you simply fill out the permit at the launch site. This trip does require an Idaho Invasive Species Sticker. 
  • Labyrinth Canyon, Green River. Placid water, red canyon walls, plenty of wildlife. This is a beautiful float through true Ed Abbey country. 
  • Gunnison River through Escalante Canyon. This is a terrific trip that you can do in two to three days with mellow class II waves, a stunning waterfall, and terrific hiking opportunities. For now, this river doesn’t require a permit, but studies are underway to limit use of this beautiful stretch of river. That wouldn’t be a bad thing: It’s getting increased pressure from paddlers and hikers.
Lower Salmon River whitewater
Fun whitewater on the Lower Salmon, a self-permitted river

And if you’re looking for a quick weekend trip, here are some great choices:

  • Westwater Canyon on the Colorado: Overnight trip (or you can run it in a day) with 3 miles of action-packed Class III and IV whitewater. Here’s our write-up of Westwater Canyon, including video footage of many of the major rapids. Although Westwater does require a permit, it’s on a rolling two-month lead time, so there’s no annual deadline for applying.
  • Ruby-Horsethief Canyon on the Colorado: Just a Class II-III rapid or two, but good family/friend float, and almost always runnable. You do need to register for campsites for Ruby-Horsethief, so it’s best to plan your trips a few months in advance especially if you’re targeting holiday weekends.
  • Gunnison River through Gunnison Gorge: Picturesque canyon with legendary fishing, spicy whitewater, and a steep hike to the put-in (raft gear can get carried down on pack horses). This is a lot of logistics for an overnight trip, but decidedly worth the effort. The best plan would be to run this for the maximum length trip of 2 nights and 3 days. This is a self-permitted river: You simply sign in at the trailhead. 

Can’t win if you don’t play

The first step in winning a river permit through the lottery system is to apply. Start the conversation today with your river friends about 2025 trips, and be sure to check the water levels for the past couple of years before you choose a date. When Valentine’s Day rolls around, you might get the sweetest gift of all.

This could be you next summer—chilling out on the Lower Salmon

Keep exploring