Selway & Paradise Estimates & Observations

Name

CFS

Height

Source

Lowell

620

3.13

USGS

Paradise

N/A

0.39

Estimated

Paradise (USFS observed)

N/A

0.4 ft

USFS

2026-08-28

not today

Cutoffs

Height @ Paradise

IK

Kayak

Raft

Selway Monthly Average CFS

NOAA forecast

Loading forecast…

Daily USFS Paradise Gage Height

Selway nr Lowell USGS

Permit Information

Important Dates

Date

Description

December 1 - January 31

Applications for lottery control season launch dates are accepted until 11:59 PM Mountain Time.

February 14

Lottery results announced

March 15

Deadline to confirm awarded reservation, 11:59 PM Mountain Time

March 16

Unconfirmed/declined/cancelled lottery dates are released for reservation at 8 AM Mountain Time

May 15 - July 31

Permits are required to float the Selway River (assigned by lottery or through a cancellation)

August 1 - May 14

Pre and Post Season - permit not required

Permit Details
Selway permit lottery application
Water levels >= 5 feet at the Paradise gauge, or the road to the launch site is snowbound, cancellation penalties will be waived.
Maximum party size is 16
Group size is limited to 20 people outside the permit season. All other rules and regulations still apply.

Required Camping Equipment
Groover or portable toilet with appropriate capacity
Fire pan (metal, 3-inch sides, minimum 144 sq. inches for containing embers)
Strainer
Shovel and bucket
Ash container

Selway Map

📈 Extrapolated Data (2021-2024)

Methodology: Core mapping array derived from 4-year historical average

Data Period: 2021-2024 water years
Source: USGS daily values for the Lowell gage
Coverage: 500 CFS to 15,000+ CFS at Lowell
Corresponding USFS Paradise observations: 0.36 ft to 8+ ft
Quality: High confidence - based on multiple years of paired observations

📈 Primary Data USFS Paradise gage

USFS Paradise observations: updated daily between 8 - 10 am. April - August
USFS starts publishing the Daily Paradise observations. Unknown start date

📈 Primary Data Source (2026 recalibration)

Methodology: Direct paired observations from a low-water year

Data Period: April–August 2026
Source: USGS daily-mean CFS at Lowell (13336500) + USFS Paradise staff-gage readings
Coverage: ~730 CFS to 16,000+ CFS at Lowell
Corresponding Paradise heights: 0.5 ft to 5.6 ft
Quality: High confidence in the low-flow range — based on actual concurrent observations

🔍 Technical Details

Gage Locations: Selway River at Lowell, ID → Paradise put-in (upstream ~46–60 river miles)
Relationship: Lowell daily-mean CFS mapped to same-day Paradise height
Update Frequency: Conversion table rebuilt from 2026 paired data; live estimate uses current Lowell CFS
Notes: Values at 300, 350, 400, 450, 486 are extrapolated.
Updated: 2025-08-25. Author: Grant Amaral

⚠️ Cutoffs

Low Water Cutoffs by watercraft:

This is a broad brush. I scoured the www for opinions and trip reports for this.
For general reference
The matching logic is < not <=
The cutoffs from 0.2 to 0.5 and 0.6 to 0.9 are big jumps. Treat them accordingly.
Confidence Level: Low - A wide range of opinions and limited low-water trip reports.

💡 Usage Notes

Values above 500 CFS: High reliability (4-year average)
Values 300-499 CFS: Use with caution (extrapolated)
Below 300 CFS: No data available - contact for updates
All heights in feet above arbitrary datum

🔍 Change Log

Version 2.0 August 2025.
In 2025 I noticed a spike in web traffic on the Selway page on kayakidaho.com. I spent a couple days mapping the lowell cfs to the paradise stick gage observations. This page is the result.
The USFS now publishes the Paradise daily height readings on Selway Bitterroot
Version 1.3 of the Lowell–Paradise conversion is derived from a July 2014 rating table published by the USFS Bitterroot field office.
Version 0.1 2005, lowell-2-paradise conversion was derived from the 2004 xls sheet by Chris Dawkins on the now defunct Yahoo Idaho Whitewater Group. (Thanks!)
I hope you find this useful. Suggestions or corrections, please contact me.