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Boating Guide Map 4 Feature Descriptions
*Identifies major rapids of Class III and above.
218.8 Kirby Creek Lodge
Privately owned land, lodge; not available for camping.
218.9 Middle Kirby Rapids
Class II or III, depending on water level. Large roller coaster waves.
219.6 Russell Bar
Fair landing for rafts, poor landing for powerboats. Shade, no water; large group.
220.0 Yankee Bar
Beach, no water, little shade; small group.
220.3 Kirkwood Bar Campsites
Four sites within easy walking distance of Kirkwood Historic Ranch. Shade, toilets, tables; large group at each site.
220.7 Historical Note. Kirkwood Ranch
Although people have lived on Kirkwood Bar since prehistoric times, the most famous resident was Len Jordan (1932-43), who later became Governor of Idaho and a U.S. Senator. His wife, Grace, wrote Home Below Hells Canyon about her family's years at Kirkwood Ranch.
220.7 Kirkwood Historic Ranch
Public welcome: historic ranch, museum, interpretive site, staffed year-round. No drinking water available. May also be accessed by an off-road vehicle trail down Kirkwood Creek. Communications available to report fires/emergencies.
221.0 Slaughter Gulch
Good landing; large group.
221.6 Historical Note: Half Moon's Death
Named for a Nez Perce man. Half Moon and his horse fell to their deaths near Suicide Point, probably in the 1870s. An 1866 silver dollar was found with the remains in 1892.
221.6 Half Moon Bar
Easy landing, small site, no water; medium group.
222.0 Gracie Bar
Good floatboat landing, shade; large group.
222.2 Two Corral Creek
Beach, shade, no water; large group.
222.6 Salt Creek
Beach, shade, water at Salt Creek; large group.
222.8 Suicide Point
Trail carved in cliffs over 400 feet above river offers a spectacular view- worth the climb!
222.9 Hominy Bar
Good landing for float or powerboats; large group at low water levels.
223.0 Geology Note.- Vertical Dikes
From Suicide Point to Pittsburg Landing, the river cuts through nearly vertical dikes which are the oldest rocks in Hells Canyon-over 300 million years old. The Great Eastern Mine (gold and copper) was located on the slope at the lower end of Big Bar.
223.7 Historical Note: Temperance Creek Ranch
In the early 1880s, Alex and Bob Warnock came to Temperance Creek to do some placer mining and raise cattle. When the packhorse carrying their supply of whiskey rolled on the trail, they were left high and dry for the winter, hence the name "Temperance Creek." Purchased by Kenneth Johnson in the 1930s and operated as a sheep ranch by Kenneth and later his son, Greg, until the late 1970s.
223.7 Temperance Creek Ranch
Former sheep ranch; not available for camping.
224.2 Big Bar Airstrip
Only public landing strip on Idaho side of river, not maintained; public use at own risk.
224.5 Big Bar
Fair powerboat landing, rocky. No shade, no water; large group.
224.5 Historical Note: Myers Creek
In the 1930s, blacksmith/miner Ace Duncan was hired to drive a tunnel through the ridge that separates Myers Creek from Big Bar. Working from both sides of the ridge, it took 81-year-old Duncan two years to complete the tunnel. An irrigation pipe through the tunnel allowed upper Big Bar to be planted with 13 acres of alfalfa.
224.5 Dry Gulch
Shade, beach, no water; large group.
225.2 Caribou Creek
Good floatboat landing, poor powerboat landing. Shade; large group. Located below Caribou Creek.
225.0 Geology Note: River Terraces
From here to mile 223, notice the wide river terraces which were formed by the accumulation of debris eroded from the canyon walls and deposited in alluvial fans. The terraces were subsequently leveled by the Bonneville and other floods.
226.2 Lower Quartz Creek
Good landing, no water, some shade; large group. Located below Quartz Creek.
226.5 Upper Quartz Creek
Rocky landing, poor powerboat site. No water, little shade; large group. Located above Quartz Creek.
227.0 Geology Note: High Bar
High bar is the result of a catastrophic landslide, followed by the formation of a large gravel bar during the Bonneville Flood, about 15,000 years ago.
227.5 Geology and Historical Notes. Pine Bar
The yellow-stained rocks mark a mineralized zone along a fault called a "gossan". Deeply weathered parts of the gossan form alurn deposits. Floyd Gossan Harvey, early outfitter, boated his Hells Canyon Excursions guests to a camp at this site in the 1960s. The main lodge and six tent cabins were burned by an arsonist in 1974.
227.5 Pine Bar
Beach, shade, water. Located below Willow Creek; large group.
227.9 Sand Creek
Administrative cabin used by Idaho and Oregon Fish and Wildlife agencies and Oregon State Police.
228.0 Historical Note: McGrady's Lodge
Kyle McGrady, early Snake River rnailboat captain, operated a lodge here in the late 1940s that accomodated 50 people.
226.2 Upper Sand Creek
Poor powerboat landing. No shade or water; medium group.
226.6 Geology Note: Dry Diggins View
Dry Diggins Ridge on the Idaho side, elevation 7,828 feet, is the highest point in Hells Canyon that is visible from the river on the Idaho side. It is 6,400 feet above the waters of the Snake.
226.6 Historical Note: Eagle's Nest
The river trail originally climbed over the rim below Yreka Creek, then back down to Sand Creek. During the winter of 1947-48, a Forest Service crew cut through the rock overhang above the river, creating the stretch of trail known as the " Eagle's Nest" because there was once an eagle's nest above the trail.
226.6 Yreka Bar
Poor landing. Shade, no water; large group.
229.0 Steep Creek
Low-water campsite. Beach, good landing below creek; medium group.
229.3 Historical Note: Sheep Creek Cabin
Homesteaded in 1884 by William McLeod, a Scotsman and Civil War veteran. After his death, the county sold the place to Fred and Billy McGaffee, who traded it to Lenora Barton for her place on the Imnaha River in 1 935. Sold to Bud Wilson in 1952, then to the Forest Service in the 1970s.
229.4 Sheep Creek
Fair landing; pull in at creek. Camp is on upriver side of creek; Cabin on bench north of creek is occupied under special use permit. Shade, water; large group.
229.6 *Sheep Creek Rapids
Class II to III; some rocks to avoid.
229.9 Johnson Bar Landing
Beach, water available at Sheep Creek; large group.