south-fork-snake

South Fork Snake River is a river in Idaho. It is a fork of Snake River.

It ranks #2 among the 28 waters of Idaho in the registry, and is of national prominence.

Also called South Fork of the Snake River, South Fork of the Snake, South Fork Snake and The South Fork.

Fished for trout (inferred from the species listed).

Species: cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and brown trout.

USGS GNIS record: 1533479.

GNIS records this fork only as a variant name of its mainstem and has no separate feature for it. It is a tributary, not a reach of the mainstem, so it carries a local watercourse id; gnis_feature_id still points at the mainstem feature for lineage.

Stretches: Canyon Section, Brown Town, Lower Canyon, Lower Section, Middle Section and Upper Section.

Access points: Byington, Conant, Cottonwood, Heise, Lorenzo, Palisades Dam, Irwin, Spring Creek Bridge and Wolf Flat.

Palisades Creek (access). It is fishable and launchable. River mile 2.2 (BLM), Idaho Fish & Game concrete ramp. Distinct from the Palisades Creek trailhead and the Lodge at Palisades Creek (an outfitter). Also called Pal Creek.

It is on the stretch Upper Section.

It is upstream of Irwin.

It is downstream of Palisades Dam.

Huskys (access). It is fishable and launchable. Listed only in the Orvis-endorsed access list ('Palisades Dam, Huskys, Irwin, Spring Creek Bridge, Conant...'); not on the BLM launch table. Single source.

It is on the stretch Upper Section.

Menan (access). It is launchable. River mile 62.2 (BLM), Idaho Fish & Game ramp near the confluence with the Henrys Fork by the Menan Buttes. BLM says the South Fork corridor ends 'in Menan at Mike Walker'.

It is on the stretch Lower Section.

It is upstream of Mike Walker.

It is downstream of Lorenzo.

Mike Walker (access). It is launchable. River mile 77.6 on the BLM table (Jefferson County ramp). Lies below the Henrys Fork confluence, i.e. on the main Snake River; BLM nevertheless lists it as the downstream end of the South Fork corridor.

It is on the stretch Lower Section.

It is downstream of Menan.

Swan Valley Bridge (feature). BLM: waterfall 'just upstream from the Swan Valley Bridge'. Backcountry Post: below 'the big bridge where the road crosses the river' the canyon begins. Landmark only; no launch is attributed to it.

It is on the stretch Upper Section.

Twin Bridges (access). It is launchable. River mile 46.2 (BLM), Madison County, concrete ramp, camping. Single source.

It is on the stretch Brown Town.

It is upstream of Lorenzo.

It is downstream of Heise.

Float: Conant to Cottonwood, from Conant to Cottonwood, 13.8 miles.

Float: Byington to Lorenzo (Brown Town), from Byington to Lorenzo, 14.7 miles.

Float: Heise to Lorenzo, from Heise to Lorenzo, 11.9 miles.

Float: Cottonwood to Byington (Lower Canyon), from Cottonwood to Byington, 11 miles.

Float: Palisades Dam to Conant (Upper Section), from Palisades Dam to Conant, 14.2 miles.

Float: Byington to Heise, from Byington to Heise, 2.8 miles.

Float: Conant to Byington (the Canyon), from Conant to Byington, 24.8 miles.

Float: Palisades Dam to Palisades Creek, from Palisades Dam to Palisades Creek, 2.2 miles.

Float: Palisades Dam to Irwin, from Palisades Dam to Irwin.

Float: Spring Creek to Conant, from Spring Creek Bridge to Conant, 2 miles.

Float: Irwin to Conant, from Irwin to Conant.

Float: Palisades Creek to Spring Creek, from Palisades Creek to Spring Creek Bridge, 10 miles.

Float: Lorenzo to Menan (Lower Section), from Lorenzo to Menan, 8.5 miles.

Sourced from 4 independent fly sites.

Sources: backcountrypost.com, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Land Management (2) (retrieved 2026-10-20), cdn.orvis.com (retrieved 2026-10-20), fishingreports.orvis.com, The Perfect Fly Store (retrieved 2026-10-20), southforklodge.com and trroutfitters.com (retrieved 2026-10-29).

Access, closures and rules change; check with the state agency before you go.