The Payette National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in central western Idaho, in parts of Valley, Idaho, Adams, and Washington counties. The land area consists of approximately 2.3 million acres (9,300 km2) of federally managed lands. It is bordered by Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and the Hells Canyon to the west, Salmon-Challis National Forest to the east, Boise National Forest to the south, and the Nez Perce National Forest to the north. The Payette National Forest is a part of the Intermountain Region (Region 4). It is under the jurisdiction of a forest supervisor in McCall and is divided into five ranger districts: McCall, Krassel, New Meadows, Council, and Weiser.The Payette also provides the largest component of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, the second-largest designated wilderness area outside of Alaska. Approximately 790000acre of it is within the wilderness, comprising one-third of its total acreage. (Five other National Forests also contribute to the River of No Return Wilderness, in addition to a small plot of land from the Bureau of Land Management.) It also provides the third-largest component of the Hells Canyon Wilderness.
