Owyhee River Wilderness

Owyhee River Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
Owyhee River Wilderness
Location	Owyhee County, Idaho, United States
Nearest city	Boise, Idaho
Coordinates	42°16′N 116°46′W / 42.26°N 116.77°W / 42.26; -116.77Coordinates: 42°16′N 116°46′W / 42.26°N 116.77°W / 42.26; -116.77
Area	267,328 acres (108,184 ha)
Established	2009
Governing body	Bureau of Land Management

The Owyhee River Wilderness is located on the high basalt plateaus of Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho in the western United States. The wilderness area is named after and protects the upper Owyhee River, its tributaries, and the surrounding desert canyon landscape.Whitewater rafting is a popular recreational activity in this wilderness area. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, it is the second-largest U.S. Wilderness Area that is not located within a National Forest, National Park, or National Wildlife Refuge. The BLM's Black Rock Desert Wilderness, located within Black Rock Desert – High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, is larger. About 67.3 miles (108.3 km) miles of the Owyhee River is classified as a wild river.

The Owyhee River Wilderness is irregularly shaped, generally following the course of the Owyhee River, South Fork Owyhee River, Little Owyhee River, Deep Creek, and Battle Creek, as well as including some plateau lands. The wilderness area stretches from the Oregon-Idaho border in the west to the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in the east to the Nevada-Idaho border in the south. The rivers and creeks are deeply eroded into the Owyhee Plateau, resulting in deep canyons. The only roads are rough and there are few trails. There are challenging whitewater rivers.