Tell me more about Salmon ID (Hayden, Challis: RV park, salons, real estate)

[missmaggieanne]

I drove thru Salmon last weekend. What a Cool Town!! I love it!!! It all by itself so to speak. That is what I like. I am a senior and looking for a place to retire and nest. I am from Spokane Valley WA. I am not a shopper so this town is great for me. A couple of questions I need answered if all possible. 1) Are there rattlesnakes in and around Salmon? 2) Does the Salmon River flood? Can a person build on the bank of the River and be OK? Does it flow rapidly? My husband loves to kayak but does not like white rapids. He just takes it easy and slow. 3). Are there fabric shops, thrift stores, flea markets, antiques shops. Tell me about the grocery stores, churches ( how many), tanning salons. 4) Does Lost Trail Pass, going to Missoula, close for the winter. Is the pass pretty bad with snow on highway? I would imagine state/county keeps it pretty sanded, graded, etc. I also noticed how curvy and wavy it was when I drove over it to Missoula. So was wondering if it was to drive over in the winter time. 6) When is spring thaw specially on the pass. Any and all information would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Peg

[shades_of_idaho]

We lived in Challis 60 miles up the highway from Salmon. Going to Salmon used to be an outing for us. It was a fun town. We have not been back for many years but some of the answers remain constant.

1) Are there rattlesnakes in and around Salmon? >>>>>>>>>> Yes I think they would rather leave you alone as much as you want to stay away from them.

2) Does the Salmon River flood? Can a person build on the bank of the River and be OK? Does it flow rapidly? My husband loves to kayak but does not like white rapids. He just takes it easy and slow. >>>>>>>> We had a mile of the Salmon River running through our property in Challis and yes it flooded a couple of times when we lived there. It can get pretty high in the spring dropping down about July. I think June was high fast water.

3). Are there fabric shops, thrift stores, flea markets, antiques shops. Tell me about the grocery stores, churches ( how many), tanning salons. >>>>>>>>>>>>>Since we have not been there for years you can probably answer this on yourself having just gone through. Maybe there is a yellow pages on line for businesses for Salmon?? There used to be a few antique stores there and a fabric shop. Never shopped the grocery but my friend did and she said she liked it. Tanning salons are bad for you. Speaking as some one with serious skin cancer.

4 ) Does Lost Trail Pass, going to Missoula, close for the winter. Is the pass pretty bad with snow on highway? I would imagine state/county keeps it pretty sanded, graded, etc. I also noticed how curvy and wavy it was when I drove over it to Missoula. So was wondering if it was to drive over in the winter time. >>>>>>>>>> I think they try to keep it open but I have heard of it closing. The roads can get icy from October or sooner through March. Salmon is warmer than Challis. Windy roads for sure when they follow the river. I think they try but once it ices up it stays that way. You learn to drive slow and careful or better yet stay home. This is one reason we moved over to Cambridge from there and now Midvale. We get a storm and the roads get bad but it melts off in a few days and the roads are clear again until the next storm. We just keep stocked up and travel on the good days.

6) When is spring thaw specially on the pass. Any and all information would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. >>>>>>>>>>>>> Anywhere from March through May. The one thing you can predict about the weather in Idaho is it will change and constantly surprise you. I have seen a heavy snow on the Fourth of July.

I loved Salmon and would have been happy to be there. Still I like it better this side of Idaho because shopping is so much easier when I HAVE to shop. I am not a shopper either . There are just some things a person needs to shop for so might as well make it easier. We are headed to the senior,well hubby is a senior already. I worry about getting around as we get older. We decided living 20 miles from fairly good shopping is far enough and close enough.

Go to the Search feature, located in the first solid blue bar close to the top of the page, type in Salmon Idaho . I am sure there are other threads that will tell you more.

Chris

[Greensleeves]

I absolutely loved Salmon. I have friends from New York who are moving there as soon as they sell their house, because they love it too.

Coming from Western Washington, any shopping experience in Eastern Idaho was a disappointment. But the Saveway grocery there in Salmon helped me keep my sanity. There is a small fabric shop and an antique store that come to mind.

I drive back and forth over Lost Trail Pass a few times a year. I remember one very nerve wracking drive over the pass in April a year or two ago. But yeah, you learn to drive slow and adjust for the conditions.

If I could find work, I'd be back there in a second!

[jadbad2004]

Originally Posted by missmaggieanne

I drove thru Salmon last weekend. What a Cool Town!! I love it!!! It all by itself so to speak. That is what I like. I am a senior and looking for a place to retire and nest. I am from Spokane Valley WA. I am not a shopper so this town is great for me. A couple of questions I need answered if all possible. 1) Are there rattlesnakes in and around Salmon? 2) Does the Salmon River flood? Can a person build on the bank of the River and be OK? Does it flow rapidly? My husband loves to kayak but does not like white rapids. He just takes it easy and slow. 3). Are there fabric shops, thrift stores, flea markets, antiques shops. Tell me about the grocery stores, churches ( how many), tanning salons. 4) Does Lost Trail Pass, going to Missoula, close for the winter. Is the pass pretty bad with snow on highway? I would imagine state/county keeps it pretty sanded, graded, etc. I also noticed how curvy and wavy it was when I drove over it to Missoula. So was wondering if it was to drive over in the winter time. 6) When is spring thaw specially on the pass. Any and all information would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Peg

Hi Peg,
I have lived in Salmon almost 2 years, so I will do my best to answer your questions.

1) There are rattle snakes in Salmon but in the mountains surrounding the town, never seen one in town .

2) The Salmon river flooding is kind of tricky to answer, generally it doesn't, it seems to be wide enough to handle the melting snow in spring, but this past year with so much snow it did close parts of our Island park area this past spring, but the city has not flooded. As far as living on the river banks, many have their homes near the river, but not within a few hundred feet just to be on the safe side. Last year near North Fork, the Waggenhammer RV park lost it's bridge when the river swelled w/ ice and then melted, so I would not be directly next to river. The rapids get crazy in the spring but will calm down early summer, at times it's been tested and rates near the top of extreme rapids.

3) Salmon has 1 fabric store downtown Sophie's Quilt&Fabric but also our local department store Alco, also sells fabrics and basic items for sewing too. We have a thrift store Rags n Wags which supports the local animal shelter,hence the name, it's a great little place that most locals shop at. We have monthly auctions at Auks that you can purchase about anything, they do have some antique items also, 1 grocery store Saveway, and 3 meat markets, lots of tanning salons in Salmon, and our churches we have at least 1 of every denomination. The only fast food chains we have are Burger King and Subway, all the rest of the restaurants are locally owned.

4) Lost Trail Pass can be tricky since it is such high elevation, in winter a snow storm can come out of nowhere, but usually it only closes during a storm, and they do a good job clearing it quickly since it is the only route to Missoula. Not many residents travel thru Lost Trail in Jan. and Feb, you just need to keep an eye on the weather, and use common sense. You can check out more of our businesses on our local web site Salmon, Idaho (ID) - Salmon's community website, profile, events, history, businesses, calendar, forum and www.lemhiweb.com they are both very informative. I wish you great luck, and hopefully a welcome to our community, you will love the area and the people are wonderful. If you need anything else please don't hesitate to pm me and I will do what I can.

Beth

[gc57]

Did you find that you got bored? Is there any nightlife there to speak of?

[DESERTRYDER]

Heavy drinking and watching reruns of HeeHaw

[jadbad2004]

You know Desertryder isn't too far wrong on that, lol. Yes most of the 20 to 30 somethings hit the bars, especially weekends. But in the summer there are car races every weekend, our infamous demo derby is a town favorite. They also have concerts at Island Park in the summer, the town tries to plan different activities all year long, but the winters are generally quiet. We moved here for the quieter life so it does not bother us too much. But there are many things to do in the summer: float the river, camping, fishing, exploring the lakes, and mountains.

[mike995]

When you say the winters are bad,how bad?We are thinking of coming that way are selves,Elk Bend area.My family and I are big outdoor people ATV riding,camping,rockcrawling,shooting,etc.Are these activities there?

[jadbad2004]

Originally Posted by mike995

When you say the winters are bad,how bad?We are thinking of coming that way are selves,Elk Bend area.My family and I are big outdoor people ATV riding,camping,rockcrawling,shooting,etc.Are these activities there?

My apologies Mike for not getting back to you sooner. The area generally does not get a lot of snow in the valley, last year I believe we had record snowfall in town, 3 to 4 inches with a couple of the storms but we generally do not get more than 7 inches in the entire season, but the mountains are a different story, they get several feet. Almost every one in Salmon has an ATV, here you can plate them and drive them on the road, and many tourist do rock climbing here, we have a very nice shooting range on the edge of town, everyone out here shoots. The camping is open pretty much anywhere you park, as most of the land is BLM. If you need any more info send me a dm, and I will do my best.

[Canine*Castle]

My ex brother-in-law lives in Hayden and he says housing is less expensive there than in Salmon. From what I see on real estate web sites, that is not so. I'm interested in possibly retiring in Salmon one day (or maybe even before retirement). Time will tell.

I posted a thread a while back, "Where in Idaho might I find" but now I'm thinking I can take more colder weather and snow just to be where it's really beautiful ... mountain, rivers, trees ... no flatland. I don't think southern Idaho is for me.