WRITER’S RETREAT

Presented by The Waterproof Notebook and Middle Fork Rapid Transit, the Flow State River Retreat is a guided 5-day, 4-night float trip for writers, editors, and creative thinkers. From September 18-22, 2026, you’ll unplug, reflect, and find your flow state on 75 miles of wild river through Idaho’s 2.3-million-acre Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness—the largest wilderness in the Lower 48.

About the Retreat

Led by Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and editor Mark Warren and New York Times best-selling author Kim Cross, this special-edition adventure offers just enough structure: optional workshops in community with other big thinkers, one-on-one time with Mark and Kim, small-group breakout sessions, and pockets of solitude to think and write between immersive adventures on the river. Whether you’re wrapping your head around a book, imagining the next chapter of your life, or simply in need of a break from the ever-loving grind, you’ll head home recharged with clarity and momentum.

About the Adventure

In September, the Middle Fork promises mellower rapids, swimmable temperatures, and stargazing in the nation’s first international Dark Sky Reserve. Opt-in adventures include fly fishing for native westslope cutthroat trout, soaking in hot springs, and guided hikes to petroglyphs, historic sites, and staggering views of a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon. On the water, relax on an oar boat rowed by a guide, run rapids in a splashy paddle boat, or pilot your own inflatable kayak “duckie.” Each evening you’ll float into a riverside camp, enjoy a happy-hour spread, and talk storytelling craft over a fireside gourmet dinner—with time to write before falling asleep under the stars.

Meet Your Guides

Mark Warren is the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner for his feature story “A Death in Alabama” (Esquire). He spent twenty-eight years at Esquire—twenty as Executive Editor—and six years as Vice President and Executive Editor at Random House, and has co-authored books with Senators Harry Reid and Jeff Flake.

Kim Cross is a New York Times best-selling author and journalist known for meticulously reported narrative nonfiction. She won a 2026 National Magazine Award for “Out of the Wild” (Food & Wine), and her book In Light of All Darkness won the 2024 Truman Capote Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. She teaches writing for the Sawtooth Writing Retreat, the Larry McMurtry Literary Center, and Harvard Extension School.

Plan Your Trip

Ready to find your flow? Start with Getting There, browse our frequently asked questions, and see what a day on the river looks like. The cost is $2,975 per person, paid in advance to Middle Fork Rapid Transit.

What’s better than rafting all day? Getting to camp with everything set up! All you have to do is bring your belongings to your tent. Relax and explore the Frank Church Wilderness as we prepare delicious gourmet breakfast, lunch, and dinners for you.

Middle Fork Rapid Transit practices the “Leave No Trace” policy, which means whatever we pack in, we must take out. For more information on the policy, please click here.