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Positioned between the Great Basin and the northern Rocky Mountains with prominent geologic features like the Salmon River Canyon, Challis Volcanics, and the Idaho Batholith, the Salmon-Challis National Forest supports a wide range of different ecosystems. The variety of geology and isolating steepness of the terrain mean this area is home to dozens of endemic plant species—plants that exist here and nowhere else. From sagebrush steppe and ponderosa pine savanna at lower elevations to cliff-face rock gardens, camas meadows, whitebark pine groves, and alpine plant communities on mountain ridgetops, each ecosystem hosts its own unique selection of plants and animals. Come visit, explore and see!

Know Before You Go

Geocaching & Letterboxing

Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to locate hidden containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a plastic container or ammo box) containing a logbook.
Please contact the Salmon-Challis National Forest prior to seeking to place any geocache on NFS lands.

Rocks and Minerals

Some areas of the Salmon-Challis National Forest are open to recreational rockhounding. There are some huge exceptions. Certain lands that are withdrawn or reserved for specific purposes other than rockhounding are off limits to rockhounding. These areas include the following:
- Wilderness Areas (on the Salmon-Challis this includes both the Frank Church -- River of No Return and the Jim McClure -- Jerry Peak Wildernesses).
- The Wild and Scenic areas of the Middle Fork and Salmon rivers.
- Designated Recreation Sites.
- National Historic Sites.
Other info
- Rockhounders should check in advance with the applicable USDA Forest Service district. In addition, certain lands may be subject to mining claims that may preclude certain rockhounding activities. Some National Forest System lands, however, allow rockhounders "limited collection" of rocks and minerals for personal use. These materials may be collected without a permit provided:
  - You are on Forest Service land.
  - The mineral rights are not privately owned.
  - Rockhounding is not prohibited in the area.
  - The collecting is for personal, hobby, and noncommercial use.
  - No digging (beyond small hand tools) or excavating takes place.
- Specially Designated Rockhounding Sites
  - In addition to other rockhounding opportunities on Forest Service-managed public lands, the the USDA Forest Service has certain specially designated existing developed and undeveloped opportunities for rockhounders to collect rock and mineral specimens. Check with your local forest service ranger district for more specific information.
- Collection Limits: Rocks & Minerals
  - Recreational rockhounders often may collect – for personal use – “small quantities” of rocks and minerals from USFS-managed public lands.
  - There is no USFS-wide defined quantity ‘safe harbor’ for collecting.
    - It is not uncommon for national forests to define ‘small quantities’ as hand-sized or smaller and a total volume that can fit in your pocket or a sample bag.
    - USDA Forest Service may require recreational rockhounders to obtain a permit (often free) prior to collecting.
- Collection Methods
  - Rockhounders are allowed to collect specimens found on the ground or beneath the surface if the excavation is done by hand (e.g., pick, shovel, etc.). Excavating with explosives or mechanical equipment (e.g., backhoe, trencher, auger, bulldozer, etc.) is prohibited.
- Important prohibitions & restrictions
  - There are a variety of important prohibitions and restrictions. These include:
- Explosives & Mechanized Equipment - Excavating with explosives or mechanical equipment (e.g., backhoe, trencher, auger, bulldozer, etc.) is prohibited.
- Commercial Use and Trading, Bartering, or Selling Fossils - The material must be for your personal use only. It may not be sold or bartered to commercial dealers or any other person. Trading, bartering, or selling any fossil material (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, or any trace fossils) removed from National Forest System lands is prohibited.
- Stockpiles - Taking rock from stockpiles is not allowed (this rock often is used to surface roads).
- Withdrawn Lands & Special Designation Areas - Some Forest Service lands are withdrawn or reserved for certain purposes such as wilderness areas. Rockhounding is prohibited in those areas that are managed under such special designation.
- Mining Claims - Some lands are not open to collecting due to the presence of mining claims.
- Artifacts - Rockhounders may not collect artifacts (ancient or historical) without a permit. This includes petroglyphs, human remains, dwellings, and artifacts of Native American cultures; arrowheads or flakes; pottery or potsherds; mats; rock art; old bottles or pieces of equipment and buildings. The USDa Forest Service also discourages searching for artifacts (man made objects) with metal detectors on the basis that any ancient or historical artifacts found (e.g., old coins, metal implements, or utensils) may not be removed from federal lands. 
  - Archaeological Resources - Rockhounders may not collect archeological resources, including any material remains of prehistoric or historic human life or activities, which are at least 50 years old, and includes the physical site, location, or context in which they are found without a permit. See 36 CFR 261.2.
  - Arrowheads - Rockhounders may not collect projectile points (including arrowheads and any prehistoric human-modified stone), pottery, or any other archeological resource or artifact without a permit. See 36 CFR 261.9(h).
  - Human Burial Remains - This should go without saying, but human burial remains on both public and private land are protected by federal and state law from being collected.
- Temporary Restrictions (e.g., Fire Closures) - Some lands may be closed to rockhounding because of fire or vehicle use restrictions.
- ESA & Other Environmental Restrictions - Some lands may be closed to rockhounding because of Endangered Species Act restrictions. These closures should be evaluated. On occasion, resources managers succumb to pressure by advocacy groups to lock up public lands purportedly to protect certain species that, albeit temporarily, have a lobby group. The irony, of course, is that regardless of what any and every self-proclaimed 'environmental' activist does, all species will go extinct. Geologists, paleontologists, and even junior rockhounders have understood this inconvenient truth for generations. In fact, the fossil beds make the issue beyond debate among reasonably informed people.
Mining Operations
- Some rockhounders (or more likely rockhounding clubs) who wish to operate on National Forests may intend to sell the specimens they remove or to conduct what may become significant surface disturbing operations. These rockhounders should become familiar with the mining laws that provide for and govern mining related activities on National Forests.  The mining laws are designed primarily for commercial type exploration and production operations, and require the operator to submit mining plans for reviews and approvals. Under these laws the minerals are removed with the least impact to other resources and the lands are reclaimed by the operator for other uses when mining is completed. These laws offer certain advantages and rights that many mineral clubs and individual collectors often are also willing to take advantage of even though they may result in some extra effort and expense.