Snake River

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This article is about the Snake River in the northwestern United States. For other uses, see Snake River (disambiguation)

Perrine Bridge spanning the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho

The Snake River is a river in the western part of the United States. The Snake River is 1,038 miles (1,670 km) in length, and is the Columbia River's main tributary. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-6) was the first major U.S. exploration of the river, and the Snake was once known as the Lewis River.

The Snake originates near the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park in NW Wyoming and flows south to Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park and past the town of Jackson. The river flows down Wyoming's Snake River Canyon, then enters Idaho at the Palisades Reservoir and joins with the Henrys Fork River near Rigby. Note: residents of eastern Idaho generally call the Snake prior to this joining the "South Fork of the Snake" to distinguish it from the Henrys Fork.

The Snake River in Wyoming's Teton Range

The Tetons - Snake River (1942) by Ansel Adams

The Snake then swings down in an arc across southern Idaho, following the Snake River Plain. In doing so it passes through the cities of Idaho Falls (and the American Falls Reservoir). Near Twin Falls, the river flows into Idaho's Snake River Canyon (the site of Evil Knievel's stunt) over Shoshone Falls and under the Perrine Bridge. It then continues towards Boise and the Idaho/Oregon border. It then flows north through Hells Canyon, and past the cities of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington. It then turns into Washington, passes through many hydroelectric dams and finally joins the Columbia River near Pasco, Washington.

Tributaries of the Snake include the Teton River, Henrys Fork River, the Boise River, the Salmon River, and the Clearwater River.

The Snake River's many hydroelectric power plants are a major source of electricity in the region. Its watershed provides irrigation for various projects, including the Minidoka, Boise, Palisades, and Owyhee projects by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, as well as a variety of private projects such as at Twin Falls. However, these dams have also had an adverse environmental effect on wildlife, most notably on wild salmon migrations. Some conservation organizations and fishermen are seeking to restore the lower Snake River and Snake River salmon and steelhead by removing four federally-owned dams on the lower Snake River.

Snake River is home to a variety of outdoor sporting activities, including fly-fishing, hiking and biking, golf, and horseback riding.

The Snake runs through a number of gorges, including one of the deepest in the world, Hells Canyon, with a maximum depth of 7,900 feet (2,410 m).

The Snake is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, with a mean discharge of 50,000 cubic feet per second.[1].

Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls, Idaho

The name "Snake" possibly derived from an S-shaped (snake) sign which the Shoshone Indians made with their hands to mimic swimming salmon. Variant names of the river have included:

Great Snake River
Lewis Fork
Lewis River
Mad River
Saptin River
Shoshone River
Yam-pah-pa

Columbia River Basin

Dams on the Snake River (from headwaters to termination):

Wyoming:
- Jackson Lake Dam, Jackson Lake, upper Snake
Idaho:
- Palisades Dam, Palisades Reservoir, upper Snake
- Idaho Falls, Four municipal dams
- American Falls Dam, American Falls Reservoir, upper Snake
- Minidoka Dam
- Milner, middle Snake
- Twin Falls, middle Snake
- Shoshone Falls, middle Snake
- Upper Salmon Falls Dam B, middle Snake
- Upper Salmon Falls Dam A, middle Snake
- Lower Salmon Falls Dam, middle Snake
- Bliss Dam, middle Snake
- C. J. Strike Dam, C. J. Stirke Reservoir, middle Snake
- Swan Falls Dam, middle Snake
- Brownlee Dam, middle Snake
- Oxbow Dam, middle Snake
- Hells Canyon Dam, middle Snake
Washington:
- Lower Granite Lock and Dam, Lower Granite Lake, lower Snake
- Little Goose Lock and Dam, Lake Bryan, lower Snake
- Lower Monumental Lock and Dam, Lake Herbert G. West, lower Snake
- Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, Lake Sacajawea, lower Snake