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Raft
River Mountains
Box Elder
County, Utah
In extreme northwestern Utah is the little-traveled Raft River-Grouse Creek area. Here you will find good stream-fishing, verdant mountains, forgotten historic towns, excellent vehicle access and friendly people.
Ryan and I mapped out a trip in Summer 1999 to the Yost/Grouse Creek area in search of fishing opportunities. We were not disappointed. The Raft River begins in southern Idaho and flows through a small piece of Utah before returning to Idaho. It is a small stream, but at certain times of year, supports sizable cutthroat and brown trout.
Its remoteness keeps the fishing pressures to a minimum. Alan Smith, a Grouse Creek native, leads ongoing negotiations between the State of Utah and private land-owners to provide public fishing in the region. Details are found at Grousecreek.com
The Grouse Creek Mountains...view west
The ridge of the Raft River Mountains...view northeast.
The Raft River Mountains are very forested on the north slope.
View of Yost from Raft River Mts...looking northwest
View northeast from ridge
View from ridge...looking south toward Great Salt Lake.
The Great Basin is so-named because no water exits the region... In the Great Basin, water flows from mountain tops and never reaches the ocean. Most ends up disappearing or used by farmers by the time it has reached the valleys. The Raft River marks a natural boundary between Great Basin drainage and Columbia River drainage. It begins in Idaho, flows south into Utah, then back into Idaho, becoming a tributary to the Snake River which is part of the Columbia River drainage system. The Raft River, therefore, is one of the only two waters in Utah flowing into the Columbia River system and, ultimately, the Pacific Ocean. The other stream sharing this distinction is Goose Creek (pictured below), a few miles northwest from the community of Grouse Creek.
Goose Creek
Goose Creek
Access to the Raft River Mountains and nearby communities including Yost, UT, Standrod, UT, Grouse Creek, UT and Naf, ID is good in almost any vehicle. Access to some of the scenery in the Raft River Mountain range is best in a 4wd vehicle. There are also a number of hiking and mountain-biking opportunities in the range, but beware of boundaries between private and public land and do not trespass!
General Store at Naf, Idaho
View of western end of Raft River range from Standrod
Standrod, Utah
Please take a look at Grousecreek.com. It is packed with information about the history of the community, hunting, camping, fishing, and the annual King of the Mountain Bike Race. Alan, a native of the region now living on the Wasatch Front, and author of Grouscreek.com, still spends a lot of time here and knows much more about it than we do.
Abandoned house in Grouse Creek, UT
Alan Smith writes: "The red brick house is on the National
Historic Registry. It was damaged by an earthquake about 70 years
ago and was abandoned. However, it looks like it will outlast most
of the other houses. Several attempts have been made to buy it and
turn it into a Bed & Breakfast, but...[it hasn't happened yet].
We appreciate Alan's insights.
Closed mining claim in Raft River Mountains
Alan Smith has contributed the following photographs from the Grouse Creek area:
The town of Grouse Creek
Grouse Creek Mountains
Grouse Creek Post Office
Etna Reservoir, near Grouse Creek
Grouse Creek traffic jam
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