Clearwater National Forest is located in North Central Idaho in the northwestern United States. The forest is bounded on the east by the state of Montana, on the north by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, and on the south and west by the Nez Perce National Forest and Palouse Prairie.
The forest is 1.8 million acres (7,300 km²) and contains mountains and river drainage areas. The Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers flow through the forest region. Portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness are also located in the forest. In descending order of land area the forest is located in Idaho, Clearwater, and Shoshone counties. Forest Service headquarters are located in Orofino, Idaho. There are local ranger district offices in Kamiah, Kooskia, Lolo (Montana), Orofino, and Potlatch (all in Idaho, except as indicated).
The Clearwater National Forest is home to the well-known Jerry Johnson Hot Springs and the smaller Weir Creek Hot Springs. Both springs are accessible via trails from U.S. Highway 12 and are popular tourist attractions, drawing visitors from Idaho and western Montana.
Lewis and Clark travelled through the region in their journey westward in 1805-1806. Upon reaching Lolo Pass at the eastern edge of the forest on September 15, 1805, William Clark was quoted as saying,
"From this mountain I could observe high rugged mountains in every direction as far as I could see."
The Clearwater National Forest was established on July 1, 1908 with 2,687,860 acres (10,877.4 km2) from parts of Coeur d'Alene National Forest and Bitterroot National Forest. On October 29, 1934 part of Selway National Forest was added.
A small part of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness lies within Clearwater National Forest, although the largest portion of the wilderness lies in either the neighboring Nez Perce National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, or Lolo National Forest.
Famous quotes containing the words national and/or forest:
“Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“If I were a Brazilian without land or money or the means to feed my children, I would be burning the rain forest too.”
—Sting [Gordon Matthew Sumner] (b. 1951)