About this place
Most people meet the Owyhee at Rome. The Bureau's launch site there is where the float begins. There is a ramp for boats without motors, a few campsites with picnic tables and fire rings, and vault toilets.
The river is protected as a wild river for 120 miles across southeastern Oregon, from the Idaho line down to Owyhee Reservoir. The Rome Valley is left out of it, because that is ranching and farming country. It joined the National Wild and Scenic River System in 1984, for its scenery, its geology, its wildlife and its history.
Spring is the floating season, while the snowmelt lasts. The rapids are Class III. That means real white water, and you need some skill. Most trips take out at Birch Creek, about 50 miles down. Below there the river slows into the reservoir, and going on to Leslie Gulch means miles of paddling on still water.
Anyone putting a boat in fills out a free permit at the launch first.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Stay limit
- 14 days
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
From Rome, Oregon, head east on US-95 for 0.3 miles, crossing the Owyhee River. Turn right onto the first gravel road, heading south. The Rome Launch Site is another 0.3 miles on.
Coordinates 42.83613, -117.6212
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing is close to this one. Everything below is a long drive away, and each line says how far.
- Mann Lake Directions
- Jordan Craters Directions
- Mahogany Mountain Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Jordan Valley, OR Directions
- Marsing, ID Directions
Marsing is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
You can camp here for 14 days. After that you have to move on, and the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
Nothing in this guide sits within 25 miles of here anyway. The nearest one you could move to is North Fork Owyhee River, Idaho — 37 miles in a straight line, but a 64 mile drive.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
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Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.