Smith River (California) Permit

About this permit

There is no boating or camping permit for the California Smith River. Six Rivers National Forest publishes a permits page listing every permit it issues (firewood, forest products, rock collecting and gold panning, mushrooms, posts and poles, traditional gathering, special use, campfire permits, and wilderness areas), and no river, boating, float or entry permit appears among them. The Smith River National Recreation Area page describes the river's summer use as swimming, rafting or fishing with no permit mentioned, and the Forks River Access and Boat Ramp page states no pass required. There is no lottery, no launch quota and no Recreation.gov permit product for this river.

What you do need is a California Campfire Permit. The Forest Service requires one for the use of open fires such as wood campfires, charcoal barbecues and portable gas stoves on federally managed lands. It is free, valid from the date issued until December 31 of that year, and available at any Forest Service, CAL FIRE or BLM office in California, or online at the California Campfire Permit page. It is generally not needed inside developed campgrounds.

Fire restrictions escalate in stages. Under Stage 1, wood campfires and charcoal fires are allowed only in designated developed campgrounds on this forest, and gas stoves and lanterns can be used in the general forest when you hold a valid Campfire Permit. Under Stage 2, no fires are allowed in the forest including the campgrounds, and gas stoves and lanterns can be used in the forest only with a valid Campfire Permit. A Forest Fire Restrictions alert was posted on the forest's alerts page as of a mid-July 2026 reading, with fire danger at Gasquet and the Smith River NRA listed as moderate. Check the current fire stage before you light anything.

The Smith is a Wild and Scenic River across 325.4 miles (216.4 recreational, 31 scenic and 78 wild), designated on January 19, 1981 and November 16, 1990, covering the Middle, North, South and Siskiyou Forks and the mainstem to the Pacific including Rowdy Creek and Mill Creek. The Smith River National Recreation Area itself was designated by Congress in 1990 and covers over 300,000 acres. It is, in the agency's words, the only major undammed, naturally flowing river remaining in California.

Panther Flat Campground near Gasquet is on Recreation.gov as facility 232322, with 38 sites along the Smith River, accessible flush toilets, coin-operated hot showers and drinking water, and a three-day advance booking cutoff. Big Flat Campground appears on the NRA's own site list, bordered by Hurdygurdy Creek and described as far from towns and highways.

One rule that does apply forest-wide: camping is limited to 14 consecutive days and 30 days in a calendar year.

The route

There are three forks (the Middle, the North and the South), and the designation covers all of them plus the mainstem to the Pacific, along with Rowdy Creek and Mill Creek. The Wild and Scenic mileage totals 325.4: 216.4 recreational, 31 scenic and 78 wild, designated on January 19, 1981 and November 16, 1990.

On difficulty the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers description is direct: the Smith River abounds with Class IV and V rapids on all three forks and has many miles of steep creeking waters, requiring a fairly high degree of technical skill. Once the three forks join to form the mainstem, the land levels out, and the last 16 miles to the ocean present less demanding conditions: Class I-II in medium flows. Below the recreation area, through Redwood National and State Parks, there is great summer floating in Class I and II waters.

Do not confuse this with the Smith River in Montana, which is a completely different river with a Montana FWP lottery.

Why it matters

Most of this catalog is about permits. This entry exists to tell you there is not one. The Smith River National Recreation Area, over 300,000 acres designated by Congress in 1990, publishes no boating, float or wilderness-entry permit of any kind, and Six Rivers National Forest's own permits page lists nothing of the sort among the permits it issues.