Challis-Yankee Fork / Middle Fork Ranger District

Because of its historic origins, the Challis - Yankee Fork District has been designated the Home of the Land of the Yankee Fork Historic Area. Each year, thousands of visitors, from around the world, enjoy the diverse recreational opportunities that the Challis - Yankee Fork Ranger District offers. Many visit the Custer and Bonanza ghost towns and the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge for the museums, tours, and interpretive presentations.

Other uses administered by the Challis - Yankee Fork Ranger District include grazing, mining, and wood cutting.

In 1866 or 1867, a group of prospectors from Montana led by Joel Richardson came searching for placer fields. They came to a large tributary of the upper Salmon River where they camped and prospected for a few weeks, but left without finding any promising placers. Before going back to Montana, Richardson's party dubbed the creek the "Yankee Fork" of the Salmon River after themselves, since everyone in the party was a Yankee. After the discovery of promising placers on Jordan Creek in 1870, the Yankee Fork Mining District was organized, comprised of all lands drained by the Yankee Fork and its tributaries.

The Middle Fork Ranger District office is located in Challis, Idaho. It is one of six districts that comprise the Salmon-Challis National Forest. It administers and oversees over a million acres of land, including over 900,000 acres of the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness area, one of the last intact wild places in the lower 48 states.

A land of steep mountains, deep canyons, and wild rivers, the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness is the second largest Wilderness in the lower 48 states at almost 2.4 million acres. The FC-RONRW provides outstanding opportunities for primitive recreation experiences and is home to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, a world-renown whitewater river. The District oversees the management of the Middle Fork, 104 miles of free-flowing whitewater, where every bend reveals a new dramatic vista and a challenge to boaters’ skills.

The Middle Fork is also responsible for the administration of the Forest lands within one of the new wilderness areas, the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness.