Hells Gate State Park near Lewiston, Idaho is an incredible place to camp. The surrounding area has limitless outdoor recreation possibilities.
Hiking, boating, fishing, and everything in between. We showed up in mid-May for a Mother’s Day camping trip with our RV and were quite pleased with the campsite and all the sites and experiences around Lewiston, ID.
Keep reading to learn all the details!
Often times when we go camping, it’s because we want to go fishing, hunting or to achieve some other tangible objective. This trip to Hells Gate State Park near Lewiston however, was different.
This trip was about pure relaxation and spending time with family outdoors, in a drier, warmer climate.
When we booked this trip, we weren’t looking specifically for Hells Gate State Park, however after searching the booking sites of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, it seemed like the best option given how booked up everything had become.
As a side note, it’s really cool how people have responded to the last year by getting out of the house, and into the outdoors enjoying all of this recreation that we so highly advocate for at PNWBestLife.com. The other side of that coin, however, is that so many campgrounds are booked up already for the rest of the recreation calendar.
I’m not going to complain though because getting more people on the water, and in the woods and mountains is what this site is all about.
We ended up booking one of the last available RV spots at Hells Gate State Park, and when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by the sheer size of the campsite.
Not all RV campgrounds or State Parks are the same when it comes to site size. This was certainly one of the biggest we’ve stayed at, and that really added to the feeling of privacy and enjoyment factor.
Literally, right behind us was a very nice walking path that went for miles, all the way back into town and towards the trail system that is quite close to the campground. This walking path follows the Snake River and the views of the rock formations and green hillsides on the Washington side were quite pleasant.
Another thing we really enjoyed about the campsite was the firepit. I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually go camping if a campfire’s not part of the deal. It’s completely integral to the camping experience.
I spent so much time on this trip just sitting in my camping chair, thinking, reflecting, or socializing. Pure relaxation!
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Amazing wildlife encounters
Another cool thing was all the wildlife we encountered while at the campground or just driving around.
On one such occasion of quietly contemplating life, I was visited by an unexpected visitor!
Normally, this is not my (anyone’s?) thing. I want literally nothing to do with a skunk walking up on my campsite. I sat there though and calmly watched him from about 20 feet away while he roamed around the edges of our campsite. It was pretty cool!
On one drive out of the campsite, we saw this red-tailed hawk flying low overhead with what appeared to be a snake in its grasp. We decided to park and follow where it flew too.
This impressive bird of prey did battle with the snake for several minutes. We weren’t sure of the snake species, it seemed to have rattlesnake-like markings on its side, but it also could have been a gopher snake.
We didn’t see a rattle on the tail, but it was also small enough that it may have been a juvenile. Either way, what a cool wildlife encounter that left all of us impressed.
Now, one doesn’t have to travel very far beyond the campground and Lewiston to have an absolute fill of recreational opportunities. We were tempted but ultimately didn’t jump on the Snake River Adventures that were offered where they take you up the river to Hell’s Canyon on a jet boat tour or guided fishing trip.
Hells Canyon is apparently the deepest river gorge in America. The Hells Canyon Recreation Area would have been a 3-hour drive by car though, so we ultimately passed on boating or driving to see this, but we were definitely intrigued and curious.
We were told that the Snake River during May had plenty of smallmouth bass and catfish accessible from the Lewiston area, but also offered sturgeon closer to Hells Canyon which was 30 miles + upstream from our campsite.
The Legendary Clearwater
We did decide to drive a couple of different directions out of Lewiston for about an hour to see what could be seen as they say.
I’ve long seen and heard of the legend of Clearwater B-run summer steelhead that can get north of 20 lbs and rise to a dry fly. It’s something I’ve been really curious about. Now that I’ve seen the scenic beauty of the river, I’m extremely tempted to go about planning my return visit with the intent to fish for steelhead. The area is absolutely incredible and this has got to be on my bucket list of fishing opportunities.
Let’s go wine tasting!
In between our driving adventures, the wife and I made it out to do some wine tasting around Lewiston. Our favorite winery we visited was the Clearwater Canyon Cellars (Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year in 2020!).
We had an absolutely delightful experience sitting at one of their two indoor tables, where the winemaker herself served our wine and told us all about what we were tasting and about the wine-growing region of the Snake River Valley.
We ultimately bought several bottles of wine. We cannot wait to pair the Albarino with a number of different seafood possibilities we’ve recently harvested from the Puget Sound area.
The Breathtaking Grand Ronde
On our final full day of camping, we made the drive south from Lewiston. Our objective? Boggans Oasis in the heart of the Grand Ronde Valley. Similar to the Clearwater River, but without the legendary reputation, I had heard things over the years about fishing for steelhead at the Grand Ronde.
As we were winding our way down into the valley towards the Grand Ronde River, my family was like “Yeah right, there’s no place to eat breakfast out here!”
First of all, that’s just a beautiful drive on its own. The Grand Ronde River did not disappoint in the least and Boggans Oasis didn’t either. The breakfast was excellent and the wait staff was friendly and helpful. I checked out the RV spots for rent behind the restaurant and got inspired to park my trailer there come October.
Let’s go hiking!
Finally, I was able to do some hiking around the campground and I feel like I only scratched the surface exploring the trail system that was within walking distance of our campsite.
The view from the top allowed me to see significant portions of the Snake River valley and the Clearwater River where it joins up with the Snake near Clarkston / Lewiston.
If you are looking for a drier climate and a bit of variety in your PNW experience, you can do a lot worse than Hells Gate State Park. We caught a vision and inspiration to come back to this area for fishing, more hiking, and maybe even some hunting.
