Plan a Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Adventure
The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho and Montana offers some of the most amazing backpacking, fishing, hunting, and river trips in the western United States. And Gem Air offers one of the best ways to get to the wilderness – by flying you directly into the heart of the it!
Public backcountry airstrips include Moose Creek Airstrip and Shearer Airstrip, providing access to the Selway River corridor and surrounding wilderness trails.
You can fly to either of these airstrips to access:
- Spectacular backpacking and fishing
- Spring bear hunts or fall elk and deer hunts
- Pre-season or post-season kayaking, packrafting, or rafting trips
Flying into the Selway-Bitterroot allows you to start your trip deep in the wilderness. You’ll see fewer people and more wild things!
Pricing is so dependent on varying group sizes and logistics – please give us a call and we’ll give you an idea of what your trip might cost.
As with any backcountry adventure, do good research in advance of the trip, prepare well both logistically and physically, practice leave no trace principles, let people know your plans, and have fun!
Trip ideas
Easy Shuttle Selway River Trip
- Stage your takeout rig at Race Creek Campground for take out,
- Meet us in Grangville, ID or Kooskia, ID
- Fly to Shearer or Moose Creek with Gem Air
- Boat back to your car
This works great for advanced boaters who want to get into the Moose-Juice before permit season (which starts May 15). It’s also a good option for packrafters and boaters who want to try a low water post permit season trip (after August 1st).
Even outside permit season, all other regulations still apply – check out this page on rec.gov for details!
Spring Bear Hunting and/or Fall Elk and Deer hunting
Shearer flights and Moose Creek flights can also be the start to your hunt. We can fly you from almost anywhere, but generally, the best pricing is from Salmon.
We fly people to Shearer and/or Moose Creek every spring and fall from
- Salmon
- Hamilton
- Missoula
- And we’re looking at doing more of this from Kooskia and Grangville, call us and ask!
Call us for pricing and to talk about your options. We price by the aircraft, and what you need will vary on your group size and which airstrip you want to go to.
Backpacking the Selway
These logistics are similar to the boating logistics:
- Stage your takeout car at Race Creek Campground
- Meet us in Grangeville or Kooskia
- Fly to Moose Creek or Shearer with Gem Air
- Backpack back to your staged car
There are a number of trails you can explore off the main stem of the river, or you can just follow the river downstream all the way back to Race Creek.
Route distances:
- Moose Creek to Shearer: over 21 miles
- Shearer to Race Creek: over 33 miles