The Best Rafting Rivers for Wilderness

While 156 rivers around the country are officially designated ""Wild and Scenic,"" when we say wilderness, we mean rivers that put you in the back of beyond—and leave you there for days on end. Their twists and turns will carry you away from all the white noise of modern life, leaving you alone except for the quiet swish of paddles through water, the wind rustling through the trees, and the occasional call of an eagle soaring in the thermals above.

Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine
Alsek River, Alaska
Colorado River (Cataract Canyon)
Dolores River, Colorado
Flathead River, Montana
Green River (Desolation Canyon), Utah
Green River (Lodore Canyon), Colorado
Gunnison River, Colorado
Hulahula River, Alaska
Kongakut River, Alaska
Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
Owyhee River, Oregon/Idaho
Rogue River, Oregon
Selway River, Idaho
Smith River, Montana
Tatshenshini River, Alaska