Start on the Bighorn. Build the Rest from There.
Five basecamps. More rivers than you can fish in a week. One of the great American road trips.
There’s a version of the American West that doesn’t show up on billboards. It’s the river at first light. The drift boat sliding through a canyon nobody’s named yet. A steelhead rolling in a wilderness corridor so remote that Lewis and Clark were the last people to really map it. This is the America that’s been here for 250 years — wild, unhurried, and still very much worth showing up for.
The fly fishing road trip is one of the oldest American traditions there is. JET has five basecamps spread across Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Here’s one way to run it.
Stop 1 – Montana · Cottonwood Camp
World-Class Fly Fishing on the Bighorn River
Start here. End here if you can manage it.
Cottonwood Camp sits directly on the Bighorn River in Fort Smith, Montana — one of the finest blue-ribbon trout fisheries in North America. Guided fishing through 3 Mile Fly Shop is right on-site, along with drift boats and shuttle services. The Bighorn below Yellowtail Dam is a year-round tailwater with trophy brown and rainbow trout, consistent hatches, and the kind of water clarity that makes you want to wade in and never leave.
Fort Smith sits at the literal end of the road — a tiny outpost in the middle of Crow Country, surrounded by Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and some of the most dramatic high-plains scenery in the West. You don’t come here by accident. You come because you meant to.
“Most anglers who arrive stay longer than they planned.
Start the loop here, let the Bighorn set the bar, and see if anything else keeps up.”
Stops 2 + 3 – Idaho · Teton Peaks and Sacajawea Inn
Into Idaho’s Wild Country
From Fort Smith, head southwest into a corridor that shaped American history before the country was even a country.
Sacajawea Inn in Salmon, Idaho drops you into the heart of the Salmon River valley — named for the fish that once ran its full length, set deep inside the territory that Sacajawea herself was born into. The Lewis and Clark Backcountry Byway runs right through here. Lemhi Pass — where the Corps of Discovery first crossed the Continental Divide — is nearby. This is the America 250 story in the landscape itself.
The fishing matches the setting. The Salmon River is one of Idaho’s most storied fisheries for trout and steelhead, and the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness — the largest contiguous wilderness area in the lower 48 — stretches out in every direction. Spring and fall steelhead runs both move through here. Guided float trips put you deep into canyon country that most people will never see. The Salmon River is a short drive from the inn, and the whole valley feels like a place that hasn’t forgotten what it is.
Continue southwest into Teton Valley and the landscape shifts again — big, open, and framed by one of the most iconic mountain silhouettes in the American West.
Teton Peaks Resort in Tetonia is your basecamp on the quiet side of the Tetons, with Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone within easy reach for anyone who wants a day off the river. Two of the crown jewels of the national park system, right out the window. The fishing is just as strong. The Teton River runs world-class cutthroat and rainbow trout. The Henry’s Fork — which hosted the 1997 World Fly-Fishing Championship — and the South Fork of the Snake River, both designated blue-ribbon fisheries, are close by. Three bucket-list fisheries in the same neighborhood, with the Tetons as a backdrop and Grand Targhee up the hill if anyone needs a rest day.
Stops 4 + 5 – Wyoming · JET Motor Inn Buffalo and Powell
Cross back east into Wyoming and everything opens up again.
JET Motor Inn Powell puts you 25 minutes from Cody and roughly an hour from Yellowstone’s East Entrance — one of the most dramatic drives in the national park system, following the North Fork of the Shoshone River through canyon country past Buffalo Bill Reservoir before climbing into the park. The Shoshone is right there for fishing. Yellowstone’s legendary backcountry fisheries are an easy morning drive. And Cody — Buffalo Bill’s town, home of the nightly Cody Nite Rodeo — is the kind of American original that fits perfectly into any 250th anniversary road trip.
From Powell, the drive south and east over the Bighorn Mountains is one of those Wyoming roads that earns its reputation. Take your time with it.
JET Motor Inn Buffalo sits right off I-90 at the foot of the Bighorns — the newest basecamp in the JET lineup and a natural anchor for this stretch of the trip. Clear Creek, the Tongue River, and a network of high-country streams in Bighorn National Forest are all nearby. Buffalo is also the eastern gateway to the Bighorn Mountains and sits along the old Bozeman Trail — another thread of American history running right under your feet. It’s a great last stop before heading home. And if you’ve still got the itch, Sheridan is just up I-90 — the closest Wyoming city to the Bighorn and an easy jumping-off point for one final morning on the river before pointing the truck home.
The Loop
Cottonwood Camp, Montana → Sacajawea Inn, Idaho → Teton Peaks, Idaho →
Powell Motor Inn, Wyoming → Buffalo Motor Inn, Wyoming → Back to Cottonwood Camp, Montana
We’re not handing you an itinerary — that’s not how good fishing trips work. Add days where the river earns it. Linger in the Salmon Valley. Spend a morning in Grand Teton. Loop back through Sheridan to close it out on the Bighorn. Build the trip that works for you.
Before You Go
This loop crosses three states – Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming – each with its own fishing license, season dates, and water-specific rules. A few stretches have gear restrictions. Steelhead on the Salmon River require a separate permit on top of your standard Idaho license. Montana no longer allows fly shops in Fort Smith to sell licenses on-site, so buy yours online before you arrive.
Do a little homework before you leave. The team at 3 Mile Fly Shop on the Bighorn is a great resource for current conditions and local intel.