We are staying at Canyon Pines RV Resort in Riggins, Idaho. $28.08 FHU-cable and free wifi, nice size sites on the Little Salmon River (208-628-4006)

You might be interested to note that the confluence of the Little Salmon River and the Salmon River is in downtown Riggins, Idaho.

Riggins, Idaho Little Salmon River and Salmon River

Riggins is located at the confluence of the Salmon River and the Little Salmon River in western Idaho. Note that Riggins, Idaho is deep in a valley at an elevation of only 1,801 feet.

Everywhere you go from Riggins is going to be up.

Well almost everywhere, there is obviously a "crack" alibet a narrow crack that allows the Salmon River to flow through.

Riggins, Idaho

This is typical landscape on the hills/mountains surrounding Riggins.

Note that the basalt from that ancient lava flow is not visible here.

Idaho mule deer near Riggins, Idaho

We are seeing more and more deer. In fact we are seeing a lot of them. In southern Idaho, along the snake river we did not see deer even when road signs would say things like deer crossing and game crossing etc.,

Deer near Riggins, Idaho

In this part of the state the state doesn't bother with warning signs and deer are everywhere.

Salmon River north of Riggins, Idaho

This is the Salmon River a few miles north of Riggins.

The Salmon River is flowing to the north in this area.

Salmon River flowing through basalt

In areas like this the Salmon River has cut through extremely hard basalt leaving impressive vertical sides.

Keep in mind that the name basalt comes from the Latin word for "very hard stone".

Salmon River Riggins, Idaho

Less than a mile upstream the topography surrounding the Salmon River is completely different.

Salmon River Riggins, Idaho

Around every bend, around every turn the landscape changes as the Salmon River rushes to meet the Snake River.

Little Salmon River Riggins, Idaho

The RV-Park we are staying in is a few miles south of Riggins with US-95 on the east side and the Little Salmon River on the west side. This is the Little Salmon River as it flows by the Canyon Pines RV Resort RV-Park.

In case you are wondering the Little Salmon River is flowing north. It is flowing north toward Riggins where it will empty into the Salmon River.

You might be interested to note that the confluence of the Little Salmon River and the Salmon River is in downtown Riggins, Idaho.

Columnar Jointed Basalt along the bank of the Salmon River near Riggins, Idaho

One of the things Riggins is noted for other than rafting on the Salmon River is the basalt canyon created by the Salmon River flowing through this ancient lava flow.

Basalt is an ancient lava flow that pushed up through a large fissure in the earth's crust. As this massive flow cooled, it began to shrink and formed the vertical fractures you see here. This process is called columnar jointing.

With time, these columns of rock fracture again but this time horizontally leaving large blocks. Eventually, the blocks break away and tumble to the valley below.

This is pretty much a text book example of columnar jointing.

Keep in mind that this was created by an ancient lava flow.

Columnar jointed Basalt along the Salmon River in Riggins, Idaho

These pictures show both the columnar (vertical) joints and the horizontal fractures on the top part of these columnar joints.

A large lava flow created this scene.