Hey paddlers,

I totally thought this post was going to be Emily's!!

what's the closest town to Lochsa?

ill be heading out to the Lochsa on memorial day weekend .... but i think i may stay longer then the weekend .... gona hit up some play parks and other runs also....may be out for 2 weeks not sure yet, depends on work

the closest town is actualy Lowel  but its hard to call it a town... all it has is a gas station ,   a dinner  and the three rivers campground ... its right at the confluence of the lochsa and the selway

i sure love the lochsa .... its bigwater playboating paradice .. i cant wait

Well the good news is I was there last year and it was still open with no rangers....  My friends from Missoula are heading up again this year with us and they have never had any issues there... It's a huge space !!! let's keep our fingers crossed.......

I hate to be retarded, but could someone map the route out for me. for instance. from Seattle get on 90 east, then head to Yakima or Spokane? etc... my wife and I are considering this trip so we're crunching numbers and trying to figure gas cost. you know how it is.

Hey Oscar,  Check out this American Whitewater link  http://americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/570/All the info you could want,  including directions,  are on the link above.   Its about 400 miles or so to the Wilderness Gateway area from Seattle. 

Edited by Fish - 08 May 2012 at 7:23pm

The most direct route is:

Mileage starting at the 405/I-90 interchange for reference

I-90 East - 127 miles
Cross Columbia RIver & immediately after:
Merge onto WA Hwy 26 - continue 133 miles
At Colfax turn onto US Hwy 195 South - continue approx 50 miles
At bottom of Lewsiton grade merge onto Hwy 12 (for the next 12 miles or so the Hwy will continue as both 12 and 195)
12 Miles past Lewiston, stay on Hwy 12 (not 195)
Continue another 112 miles

Kooskia will be the last town of any size if you want to get gas/food etc.

25 miles or so past Kooskia you'll pass the confluence of the Lochsa/Selway and 3 Rivers Resort.

In another 25 miles you'll come to the turn off  for Wilderness Gateway camp. It's a right turn and goes over a bridge. The camp Fish is hoping to be at is right before that.



HOWEVER!

If you've never made this drive, a slightly more complicated and much more scenic drive I would suggest you do either going or coming is as follows.... and allows a easy side trip to check out Palouse Falls. And... it takes about the same amount of time. (except that you'll be hanging at Palouse a while.

I-90 East - 127 miles
Cross Columbia RIver & immediately after:
Merge onto WA Hwy 26 - continue 42 miles
Turn right to merge onto WA Hwy 17 S towards Pasco - continue 13.7 Miles
Turn LEFT onto WA Hwy 260 E - Continue 31.5 miles
Turn RIGHT onto WA-261 S (the scenic Starbuck highway) in 8.7 miles turn left into Palouse Falls State Park for a little stop then continue on 261 for 20.6 more miles
Turn left onto US Hwy 12 - Continue 50 miles to Clarkston

When you get to Clarkston, either just stay on Hwy 12 the rest of the way if you want to stop and get gas/groceries in Clarkston/Lewiston or if you want to bypass these cities, Cross the Red Wolf bridge as you enter Clarkston as shown below:

Turn left on 15th ST - which becomes ID Hwy 128 as you cross the Red Wolf bridge into Idaho
At the end of the Bridge turn RIGHT onto ID Hwy 128 E - cont. 3.8 miles
Continue onto US Hwy 12 - Keep on Hwy 12 the rest of the way.

Hope this helps


Either route is about 420 miles from 405/i90.











Edited by JoesKayak - 08 May 2012 at 8:59pm

Thanks for the stellar routing. I'll definitely let you know if this works out for us.

The gf and I are planning to make the trek out for some Lochsa action!  We probably won't know until the week of on what time we will be leaving, but we may be interested in some carpool action. 

let's say your vehicle is a gas guzzler like mine, but it's reliable, will hold like 4 people fairly comfortably (could do five), and all their food, and all their boats and boat gear. Round trip is 860 miles. At 13 miles to the gallon thats 66.15 gallons. 66.15 gallons at $4.40 per gallon is like $291. (this post is making me laugh by the way). Okay so if I ask for $50 dollars is that too much? My wife and I pay the majority of the gas bill because we'd be making the trip anyway. Is $50 dollars too low?

Good folks should be okay with splitting the cost of gas evenly amongst the group. On a bigger trip like this it's sometimes easier for each person to pay for a tank as the trip progresses. Settle up any differences at the end.

Like the idea of the old bus, but bet it gets worse mileage than Oscars truck.

Ok guys, so split the gas equally in all directions... because your car will be the one taking the beating with boaters and gear, etc. Everyone splits gas equally? That's at least what I want to do if I ride with someone (or if we take my car...)

Good math though... very detailed of you! Are people rallying?!? I love the sound of this!!! Lochsa rally!!! Big water, hot springs (there are a couple good ones), and for the ladies, Idaho and Montana eye candy. That's right, there is nothing to get you ladies going like a good old flannel and beard... I know I'm excited. Rally ladies (and gents...) RALLY!!!!