{{Short description|Tributary of Coeur d'Alene Lake in northern Idaho}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox river | name = Saint Joe River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP --> | image = St Joe River at Red Ives.jpg | image_caption = Saint Joe River in the St. Joe National Forest | image_size = 280 | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = USA#Idaho | pushpin_map_size = 280 | pushpin_map_caption= Location in the United States##Location of the mouth of the St. Joe River in Idaho <!---------------------- LOCATION --> | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Idaho | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = Counties | subdivision_name4 = Shoshone, Benewah, Kootenai | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{convert|140|mi|round=5}}<ref name="NHD">{{cite web|title=National Hydrography Dataset|publisher=United States Geological Survey|url=https://nhd.usgs.gov/index.html|access-date=July 18, 2013|archive-date=December 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213040729/http://nhd.usgs.gov/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= For Calder, Idaho | discharge1_min = {{convert|206|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_avg = {{convert|3773|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_max = {{convert|14400|cuft/s|abbr=on}} <!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES --> | source1 = Northern Bitterroot Range | source1_location = southwest of Superior, Montana,<br>Shoshone County, Idaho | source1_coordinates= {{coord|47|01|07|N|115|04|58|W|display=inline}}<ref name="GNIS">{{cite gnis|title=Saint Joe River|id=389832|entrydate=June 21, 1979|accessdate=July 18, 2013}}</ref> | source1_elevation = {{convert|6487|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Source">Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.</ref> | mouth = Coeur d'Alene Lake | mouth_location = north of Heyburn State Park,<br>Kootenai County, Idaho | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|47|23|35|N|116|45|15|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="GNIS"/> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|2129|ft}}<ref name="GNIS"/> | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|1850|sqmi|round=5}}<ref name="WAG">{{cite web|title=St. Joe and St. Maries Rivers Watershed Advisory Group|publisher=Idaho Department of Environmental Quality|url=http://www.deq.idaho.gov/regional-offices-issues/coeur-dalene/basin-watershed-advisory-groups/st-joe-and-st-maries-rivers-wag.aspx|access-date=July 18, 2013|archive-date=November 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120055852/http://www.deq.idaho.gov/regional-offices-issues/coeur-dalene/basin-watershed-advisory-groups/st-joe-and-st-maries-rivers-wag.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> | tributaries_left = St. Maries River | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = nwsr | designation1_type = Wild, Recreational | designation1_date = November 10, 1978 | designation1_number = }} }} The '''Saint Joe River''' (sometimes abbreviated '''St. Joe River''') is a {{convert|140|mi|0|adj=on}} long<ref name="NHD"/> tributary of Coeur d'Alene Lake in northern Idaho. Beginning at an elevation of {{convert|6487|ft}}<ref name="Source"/> in the Northern Bitterroot Range of eastern Shoshone County, it flows generally west through the Saint Joe River Valley and the communities of Avery and Calder. Past Calder, it flows into Benewah County and through the town of St. Maries, where it receives its largest tributary, the Saint Maries River. It then turns northwest, passing through Heyburn State Park before reaching its mouth just north of the Kootenai County line.<ref name="Map">{{cite map|publisher=Benchmark Maps|title=Idaho Road and Recreation Atlas|edition=2nd|year=2010|scale=1:250,000|pages=32–34|isbn=978-0-929591-06-3|oclc=567571371}}</ref> Much of the river's route through Heyburn State Park is partially flooded due to raised water levels from the Washington Water Power dam at Post Falls on the Spokane River below Coeur d'Alene Lake.<ref name="TMDL">{{cite web|title=St. Joe River Subbasin Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Loads|publisher=Idaho Department of Environmental Quality|url=http://www.deq.idaho.gov/media/452741-st_joe_entire.pdf|date=July 2003|access-date=July 18, 2013}}</ref> With a mouth elevation of {{convert|2129|ft}},<ref name="GNIS"/> it is claimed to be the highest navigable river in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Area|publisher=United States Forest Service|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/idahopanhandle/about-area|access-date=July 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Idaho|first=John|last=Gottberg|publisher=Fodor's Travel|location=New York, New York|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOTtzbjFKrwC&pg=PA224|page=224|isbn=9781400007417|oclc=261939615}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Uniquely Idaho|first=Mary|last=Boone|publisher=Heinemann Library|location=Chicago, Illinois|year=2004|url=https://archive.org/details/uniquelyidaho0000boon|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/uniquelyidaho0000boon/page/11 11]|isbn=9781403446466|oclc=54407745}}</ref>
thumb|left|The "Shadowy St. Joe River" in 1909.
In 1978, {{convert|66.3|mi|0}} of the river were protected by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, with {{convert|26.6|mi|0}} designated as wild and another {{convert|39.7|mi|0}} designated as recreational.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Joe River, Idaho|publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System|url=http://www.rivers.gov/rivers/st-joe.php|access-date=July 18, 2013}}</ref>
The Saint Joe River drains {{convert|1850|mi2|-1}} of the Idaho Panhandle.<ref name="WAG"/> It is part of the Spokane River watershed, which in turn is part of the Columbia River basin. About 68 percent is owned by the United States Forest Service (the St. Joe National Forest), 4 percent is owned by the Bureau of Land Management, 2 percent is owned by the State of Idaho, and the rest is privately owned.<ref name="TMDL"/>
The Saint Joe River watershed is covered primarily by mixed coniferous forest, which includes species such as Douglas fir, true fir, larch, and pine. Alder is common in the riparian zones of high altitude river valleys, while cottonwood dominates the lower altitude riparian zones, much of which have been converted to agricultural land. Rush, sedge, and cattails are common in the river's floodplains, which are also used to grow wild rice.<ref name="TMDL"/>
The river is home to many species of fish, including native westslope cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, cedar sculpin and other cottids, shiners, and nonnative rainbow and brook trout, chinook and Kokanee Salmon. The upper Saint Joe River is also home to the last self-sustaining population of vulnerable bull trout in the Coeur d'Alene Lake watershed.<ref name="TMDL"/>
==See also== *Cedar Snags, National Register-listed area along the North Fork, where large tree stumps in a swampy area survive from the Great Fire of 1910 *List of rivers of Idaho *List of longest streams of Idaho *List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers *Tributaries of the Columbia River
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://video.idahoptv.org/video/1856748405/ St. Joe River Country] Documentary produced by ''Idaho Public Television''
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Category:Rivers of Idaho Category:Rivers of Benewah County, Idaho Category:Rivers of Shoshone County, Idaho Category:Idaho Panhandle National Forest Category:Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States