Special Recreation Permits

Permits are required for commercial, competitive, vending, individual or group use in special areas, and organized group activity and event use. Find out more.

Recreation Use Patterns and Trends

The majority of the visitor use is land-based, including sightseeing, on-trail motorized vehicle use (cars, trucks, jeeps, motorcycles, ATV's), horseback riding, hiking, hunting and recreational shooting, mountain biking, picnicking, and camping.

From March through June, sightseeing and nature study associated with nesting birds of prey attract local, national, and international visitors. This time of year is also the peak use period for varmint hunters, target shooters, hikers, mountain bikers, and float boaters. During the frequent hot summer days, water-based recreation, including float-boating (rafting, kayaking, and canoeing), power boating, and fishing are popular along the 81 miles of the Snake River, and on C.J. Strike Reservoir, a 7,500-acre impoundment of the Snake and Bruneau Rivers in the southeastern portion of the NCA.

The sheltered canyon areas of the NCA offer spring and fall weather conditions that average 5-10 degrees warmer than temperatures in nearby Boise. This has caused the NCA to be increasingly popular with the public because it provides opportunities to recreate outdoors in the late winter, spring, and fall when many higher elevation recreation areas are unpopular or inaccessible due to weather.