Fishes Salt River
River · Star Valley · Wyoming
Salt River Fishing Guides
A spring-fed meadow river running north through Star Valley to Palisades Reservoir, small enough to wade and rich enough to hold big browns, and the local alternative when the Snake is blown out.
Map of the Salt River
18 numbered points: 2 campsites, 1 bait & fly shop, 1 outfitter, 12 bridges, 1 USGS gauge, 1 point of interest. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 15, 2026.
- Campsite (2)
- Bait, tackle & fly shop (1)
- Outfitter / canoe rental (1)
- Bridge crossing (12)
- USGS gauge (1)
- Point of interest (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.
Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
Open the printable mapAll 18 points on this map
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | County Road 162 County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.55969, -110.90035 | Upstream end of the sheet, above Smoot. |
| 2 | County Road 154 County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.59850, -110.91511 | |
| 3 | E. L. Clark Lane County lane crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.61583, -110.93342 | |
| 4 | Bitter Creek Road County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.62033, -110.94115 | |
| 5 | Wyoming Highway 238 State highway crossing near Afton | Bridge crossing | 42.72165, -110.97685 | The Wyoming regulations name an “Upper Narrows Bridge (Wyoming Highway 238)” as a section limit. This is the only WY-238 crossing in OpenStreetMap and it sits 14 km south of The Narrows, so the two were not assumed to be the same place. |
| 6 | Mountain Top Outdoor Shop Afton · 390 Washington St | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 42.73992, -110.93366 | Nearest tackle and outdoor shop to the middle river. |
| 7 | Kennington-Burton Lane County lane crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.75781, -110.97314 | |
| 8 | Wyoming Highway 237 State highway crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.79402, -110.97519 | |
| 9 | Twin Peaks Outfitters Grover | Outfitter / canoe rental | 42.81469, -110.95648 | |
| 10 | The Narrows Named locality on the river | Point of interest | 42.84883, -110.98073 | The canyon reach that splits upper and lower Star Valley, and the landmark the regulations' Upper and Lower Narrows boundaries are named for. |
| 11 | County Road 125 County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.92448, -111.01727 | |
| 12 | Wyoming State Highway 239 State highway crossing at Thayne | Bridge crossing | 42.98253, -111.03156 | |
| 13 | Wolf Den Log Cabin Motel & RV Park Private · Thayne | Campsite | 42.99793, -111.01169 | OpenStreetMap carries this business three times under three spellings; shown once. |
| 14 | Creamery Road County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 43.04449, -111.03592 | |
| 15 | USGS 13027500 — Salt River above Reservoir, near Etna USGS gauging station | USGS gauge | 43.07972, -111.03722 | |
| 16 | McNeel Power Plant County Road 104 County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 43.11937, -111.03461 | |
| 17 | McCoy Road County road crossing | Bridge crossing | 43.12719, -111.03148 | Near the mouth. The regulations set the Palisades Reservoir limit at a McCoy Creek bridge on the Salt River arm; whether that is this crossing was not confirmed. |
| 18 | Wapiti Village RV Park Private · Alpine | Campsite | 43.13240, -111.02630 | Lowest point on the sheet, near where the Salt goes into Palisades Reservoir. |
Guides on the Salt River
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
About the Salt River
The Salt River drains Star Valley between the Salt River Range and the Caribou Range and joins the Snake at Palisades Reservoir. It is a smaller river than the Snake by an order of magnitude, spring-influenced, and it stays clear when its bigger neighbor is running mud. That combination makes it the fallback fishery for Jackson and Alpine guides during runoff and a destination in its own right for anglers who prefer intimate water.
Above Afton the Salt is a small meadow stream with brook trout, cutthroat and the occasional heavy brown holding under the willow banks. From Afton down through Etna and Thayne it grows into a river you can float in a low-water boat or a raft, winding through hay meadows in tight bends with deep outside corners. Those corners are where the big browns live, and streamer fishing along them in the fall is the reason a lot of anglers come back. The lowest reach near Palisades holds fish that run up out of the reservoir.
The Etna gauge sits near the bottom of the valley and reflects the whole drainage. Roughly 300 to 900 cfs is a comfortable floating range; under about 250 the meadow bends get thin and skinny for a boat and the wade fishing gets better; a spring peak well above 2,000 turns it into a brown, brushy hazard course. Because the river cuts through soft meadow soils, wood and new cut banks move around every high-water year.
Afton, Thayne and Alpine have lodging and shops. Much of the valley is private ranch land, so float access and public easements matter more here than on federal-land rivers.
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The photo at the top of this page is not Salt River.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
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Access
Upper valley bridges south of Afton: small-stream wade access on public easements.
Afton area accesses: put-ins for the meadow floats through the middle valley.
Thayne and Bridger Highway crossings: mid-valley access points, low-water boat and raft launches.
Etna Access: near the gauge, the standard lower takeout.
Alpine and the Palisades inlet: mouth-of-the-river access to reservoir run-up fish.
Respect posted private land; ask locally before assuming a crossing is open.
Seasons
March through May: pre-runoff streamer window; the Salt clears before the Snake does.
June: high water, but often the only clear option in the area.
July through September: prime meadow float season, cutthroat on dries and browns in the corners.
October and November: the best big-brown month, streamers and cold mornings; winter is quiet and mostly closed water.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the Salt River?
As of Oct 19, 1:30 am, the USGS gauge SALT RIVER ABOVE RESERVOIR, NEAR ETNA, WY reads 417 cfs, the 10th percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Salt River?
Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Mountain Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, Snake River Fine-Spotted Cutthroat Trout on the Salt River in Wyoming.
Are there fishing guides on the Salt River?
GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Salt River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.
Where can you access the Salt River?
Upper valley bridges south of Afton: small-stream wade access on public easements. Afton area accesses: put-ins for the meadow floats through the middle valley. Thayne and Bridger Highway crossings: mid-valley access points, low-water boat and raft launches. Etna Access: near the gauge, the standard lower takeout. Alpine and the Palisades inlet: mouth-of-the-river access to reservoir run-up fish. Respect posted private land; ask locally before assuming a crossing is open.
When is the best time to fish the Salt River?
March through May: pre-runoff streamer window; the Salt clears before the Snake does. June: high water, but often the only clear option in the area. July through September: prime meadow float season, cutthroat on dries and browns in the corners. October and November: the best big-brown month, streamers and cold mornings; winter is quiet and mostly closed water.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Salt River?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Wyoming agency site: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Regulations/Fish/Fishing-Regulation