Airboating On The Snake River

When you think of taking an airboat tour, your mind most likely conjures up images of skirting over the tops of shallow swamps and marshes in some other state like Florida or Louisiana. However, locals can now experience the thrill of a tour just 45 minutes outside of Boise at a launching site in Walters Ferry.


The 22-seat airboat

In March, Swan Falls Excursions began operating the only airboat tour on the Snake River. As an affiliate company of Hells Canyon Adventures, one would suspect they would use jet boats like the ones they use on their tours in Hells Canyon. But according to airboat captain Mike Bell, “jet boats just don’t make a lot of sense on this portion of the Snake River.”

“The stretch of river from Walters Ferry to Swan Falls often has low water flows and gets filled with moss,” he said. “By using an airboat, we can extend our tour season up until early October. It just allows us the opportunity to take more people up and down the river.”

Visitors boarding the 24-foot boat, which has ample room to transport 22 passengers, will travel a 14-mile stretch of the Snake River to Swan Falls. A historical narration of area sites is given throughout the tour by one of two airboat captains on board.

Visitors board the craft at Walters Ferry. A ferry at this site, was once the only way to cross the river and it operated continuously for 58 years from June 1863 until the steel bridge, which now carries passengers over the river, was officially opened in October 1921. It served as the gateway to Silver City and the rich Owyhee mines and was the most direct route between the Boise Basin and the Owyhee mining camps to the south and on to Nevada and California.


Some of the scenery along the way

After traveling about seven miles, Bell points out Celebration Park, which was established as Idaho’s only archaeological park in 1989. The park contains numerous Indian petroglyphs or rock art pictures dating back 12,000 years. Indians wintered in the area for thousands of years and etched pictures on the lava boulders left behind from the Bonneville flood. Although the petroglyphs can’t be seen from the boat, this area is well worth a visit.


More scenery along the way

Just a couple of miles upstream, passengers are able to see the remains of a rock cabin built by local doctor. “He retired in 1904 and lived here for several years,” said Bell. He obtained his homestead by “proofing” or proving for two years that he was able to live off the land.” Other rock cabins also exist in the area and were originally built by miners in the late 1890’s to early 1900’s as they searched for gold in the Snake River canyon.


A rock house along the Snake River

Traveling further upstream, passengers begin to notice huge, round boulders in the river. According to Bell, “this portion of the river is known as Suicide Bend or the graveyard and is the most treacherous section of river in all of Idaho. More boating accidents happen here than anywhere else in the state,” he said.

The boulders were deposited in the area when approximately 15,000 years ago, flood waters from Lake Bonneville, overflowed at Red Rock Pass in southeastern Idaho and continued westward across the Snake River Plain generally following the path of the present Snake River. Geologists coined the phrase “melon gravel” to the boulder deposits because they resembled "petrified watermelons." The melon gravels deposited by the flood average from three feet to ten feet in diameter and the gravel bars are as much as one mile wide by 1.5 miles long.

After the airboat captain skillfully navigates passengers through the melon gravel, a smoother section of river opens up to reveal the 500-foot span of the Guffey Bridge. The 70-foot-tall bridge, which is Idaho’s largest historic artifact, is the only Parker-Through-Truss railroad bridge in Idaho. It was designed to facilitate the hauling of gold and silver ore from Silver City mines at the turn of the century. Historians report that reaching Silver city was totally impractical, because the climb was almost a vertical mile above the Snake River. On August 7, 1898, rail service commenced to its terminal in Murphy and from there on, stages and freight wagons had to continue their steep ascent to Silver City.


The Guffey Bridge


The black basalt canyon walls of Morely Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey

Visitors will also enjoy seeing a variety of birds as the boat glides through the dramatic cliffs of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation area. The airboat captain slows the boat to talk about the nesting osprey sitting high atop a post, which has incorporated a portion of a blue tarp in its nest. With all eyes upon the osprey, it comes to attention, while it’s partner sits watching over the curious crowd on an opposing pole on the other side of the river. Other birds in the area include eagles, blue herons and ducks.


An osprey in it's nest


Another osprey

At the halfway point of the tour, Swan Falls Dam, which was built in 1901 and named for the graceful white swans that wintered there, comes into view. As the oldest hydroelectric dam on the Snake River, it was originally built to supply electricity to the Silver City and Dewey mines.


Passengers get a view of Swan Falls Dam

After a short rest break ashore, passengers begin the return trip to once again enjoy the incredible scenery and relive the history of the local area.
Two-hour airboat tours are $45 for adults and $35 for children 11 and under. For more information about taking this tour and others offered by Swan Falls Excursions, call 1-800-422-3568 or visit their website at www.swanfallsexcursions.com.