Lochsa River

The Lochsa River is Idaho's ultimate roadside wilderness river — a place where US Highway 12 ribbons alongside a powerful, boulder-strewn freestone stream for nearly 70 miles through the Clearwater National Forest, offering anglers a paradox of convenience and wildness. Pull off at any of dozens of unmarked pullouts along the highway, scramble down the steep bank, and you're fishing for wild westslope cutthroat trout in water that has never been stocked or managed — just wild fish in a wild river, as pure a fly fishing experience as you'll find in the Rocky Mountain West.

Westslope cutthroat are the primary species and the heart of the Lochsa experience. The river holds dense populations of these native fish averaging 8 to 14 inches, with larger fish in the 16 to 18-inch range inhabiting the deepest pools and most remote sections. The fish are opportunistic and wild — they respond well to attractor patterns fished through the pocket water and foam lines, and they will chase a large dry fly with impressive aggression during summer caddis and stonefly hatches. This is not technical fishing; it's high-energy, active angling in beautiful mountain terrain.

Bull trout are present in the Lochsa and are catch-and-release only. These large, predatory chars can reach 10 pounds and provide an exciting incidental catch for streamer fishers working the deep pools. Their presence is a testament to the river's exceptional water quality and cold, clear flows originating in the Bitterroot and Clearwater mountains.

Despite passing steeelhead en route to the Selway, the Lochsa is managed as a steelhead refuge — targeting steelhead is not permitted. The wild steelhead and salmon runs passing through on their way to spawning tributaries are a conservation priority, and the no-targeting restriction protects these runs while still allowing excellent cutthroat and bull trout fishing.

The river runs wild from its headwaters near Lolo Pass on the Idaho-Montana border to its confluence with the Selway at Lowell. The upper sections above the Wilderness Gateway Bridge are catch-and-release only. US 12 provides access throughout, and the Powell Ranger Station near Lolo Pass is an excellent starting point for upper river exploration. The entire highway corridor is a National Scenic Byway, and the combination of river fishing, wilderness camping, and spectacular canyon scenery makes the Lochsa corridor one of the Pacific Northwest's finest outdoor destinations.