Hells Canyon N.R.A

Hell’s Gate SP is one of our favorites. We have stayed there and done day trips south south over WA-129/OR-3 down the Grande Ronde Gorge to Enterprise / St. Joseph / Imnaha and the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowas. Extremely spectacular. I have no recommendations for camping in that area south of the Grande Ronde.

Driving along the Snake River Gorge south of Asotin, WA is very cool, but you cannot get into Hell’s Canyon on that stretch. Take a jet boat out of Lewiston.

Away from Lewiston it gets pretty remote.

Just about any sized rig can fit at Leslie Gulch. It's just a long gravel road, which is in pretty good shape as far as gravel roads go. I prefer Leslie Gulch to Succor Creek, personally. Both of these areas have no services at all, you need to be self contained.

You can drive along the Snake south of Halfway, along gravel Snake River Rd. The canyon isn't as deep here, but more accdssible.

While in eastern Oregon, also consider the Owyhee area. Lake Owyhee SP is a popular state park on the reservoir of the same name. Its dam is a scaled down predecessor of Hoover Dam. Succor Creek is a scenic area, also on gravel. Leslie Gulch is also interesting. More gravel, but I saw some big RVs when camped there.

There are campgrounds on the river to Hells canyon. Turn west off of highway 95 onto highway 71 at Cambridge Idaho and follow it to Brownlee Campground, Woodland Campground or McCormick campground. There is some boondocking camp spots closer to Hells canyon dam also. Awesome camping and hiking. Best done early in the season as it gets pretty warm down in the canyon. Enjoy.

paulj wrote:
There are only two paved access points - Lewiston at the downstream end, and Oxbow dam (OR 86/ID 71) at the upstream end.

On the west side, Lewiston to Joseph is paved state highway, but the WA 129 descends to the Grande Ronde River on the aptly named Rattlesnake Grade. There is also a paved Forest Service Rd from Joseph to OR 86, with one paved overlook from which you can see the Snake River. There is also a gravel road from Imnaha that climbs to another overlook. And one rough gravel road from Imnaha with access to the river itself.

On the Idaho side, US95 roughly parallels the river, and follows a tributary, the Salmon, for a ways. There is a gravel road that climbs over a ridge between the two rivers to give access to the Snake.

So the jet boat from Lewiston is the easiest way to see the canyon. Anything else will be challenging with a big RV trailer.

Thanks a lot, never thought about pulling the trailer around, thats why we have a 5W allowing us to do many side trips with the truck leaving the 5W in a C.G

There are only two paved access points - Lewiston at the downstream end, and Oxbow dam (OR 86/ID 71) at the upstream end.

On the west side, Lewiston to Joseph is paved state highway, but the WA 129 descends to the Grande Ronde River on the aptly named Rattlesnake Grade. There is also a paved Forest Service Rd from Joseph to OR 86, with one paved overlook from which you can see the Snake River. There is also a gravel road from Imnaha that climbs to another overlook. And one rough gravel road from Imnaha with access to the river itself.

On the Idaho side, US95 roughly parallels the river, and follows a tributary, the Salmon, for a ways. There is a gravel road that climbs over a ridge between the two rivers to give access to the Snake.

So the jet boat from Lewiston is the easiest way to see the canyon. Anything else will be challenging with a big RV trailer.

https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/hells-gate

An ideal place to stay is at Hells Gate State Park at Lewiston, ID. Lots of shade for the high summer temps! It's a very nice park with big rig sites.

You can sign up for a jet boat ride in Lewiston.

While in Idaho be sure to explore the Stanley area and the Sawtooth Mtns..... awesome.