Location: Lewiston
Top Things to do in Lewiston
- 1. Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
- 2. Snake Dancer Excursions
- 3. Asotin Museum
- 4. Riverport Brewing Co
- 5. Hells Gate State Park
- 6. Beamers Hells Canyon Tours
- 7. ROW Adventures - Salmon River Canyons
- 8. Basalt Cellars Winery
- 9. Nez Perce County Historical Society & Museum
- 10. Clearwater Canyon Cellars
Countries
Top 10 Things to do in Lewiston, United States
A city steeped in history, Lewiston traces its beginnings to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1805, the famed explorer team came to the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers, now the site of twin cities Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington. Pick any weekend of the year for your stay: Lewiston has a uniquely dry, temperate climate, ideal for year-round recreational activities. Whitewater rafting, kayaking, swimming, fishing, tubing, canoeing and jet boating opportunities are plentiful - and that's only the water sports. Landlubbers can golf, camp, hike, jog and bicycle. For the truly adventurous, a trip to Hells Canyon, the deepest canyon in North America, is a must. Those who venture into the gorge, via raft or jet boat, will discover 2,500-year-old Native American carvings on the canyon walls. Try your hand at indoor risk with a visit to the Clearwater River Casino. Whether braving the rapids or browsing through pioneer artifacts in the city's museums, you're sure to get a taste of the indomitable spirit of the early American settlers.
Restaurants in Lewiston
1. Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 126 reviews
The deepest river gorge in North America, Hells Canyon is accessible by jet boat or raft. Those who explore this rugged wilderness will find ancient tribal carvings in the rocks, deserted ranches and closed-up gold mines.
Reviewed By MartyW60 - Concord, New Hampshire
My day trip on the Snake River and into the Hells Canyon Recreational Area was really too short, but it gave me such a sense of the beauty and magnitude of the area. I was on a jetboat, but saw people traveling the river by rafts and kayaks, while others were swimming or just enjoying the white sandy beaches along the shoreline. We saw campers, too, along the river. It was a wonderful day of being just in nature with not a road of any kind within sight for miles. The mountains were spectacular and the river winding through them was something to behold.
2. Snake Dancer Excursions
Overall Ratings
5 based on 86 reviews
Hells Canyon Jet Boat Tours on The Snake River provided by Snake Dancer Excursions. Full or Half Day trips available. Discount Kids Rates Snake Dancer Excursions has been family owned and operated since 1970. We are the only tour operator that takes you the furthest from Hells Canyon Resort and Marina all the way to Hells Canyon Dam. You can choose Full or Half Day Scenic Tours, or Fishing Charters for Bass, Trout, Sturgeon and Steelhead.Snake Dancer is famous for our homemade buffet style lunch and cookies, smaller tour boats for a more personalized tour.We are proud to take friends, family and visitors from all over the world into Hells Canyon "The Deepest River Gorge In North America"."Treating You Special is Our Speciality"Snake Dancer Excurions
Reviewed By rcwake - East Wenatchee, Washington
Had a great day with Eric and 18 new friends! This 120 mile round trip was fun, informative, and exciting! Saw big horned sheep, mountain goats, wild turkeys, eagles, lots of deer, and a pelican at the Clarkston marina. Heard about it from a friend, will definitely recommend to others! Well worth it!
3. Asotin Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4 reviews
Reviewed By princesscruisers - Edmonton
This little museum packs a whole lot of punch. It proudly shows over 150 years of history that covers all points of the great pioneering heritage of the County and town of Asotin. Located just off the historic downtown Asotin area, which boasts it's own well restored buildings including the County Courthouse (which started out as the Ayers Hotel in 1905). The museum is run with love by the residence of this community and it shows. Asotin is just south of Clarkston Wa. and Lewiston ID.. There are a good range of articles and info about the communities past and the settlers and natives of this area.
4. Riverport Brewing Co
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 43 reviews
Reviewed By Cathy S - Yakima, Washington
We found this brewery near our hotel when looking for a place to see the WSU homecoming game. We had family with us and this was the perfect place to be. BBQ food was great and so was the beer. Staff is really friendly and fun.
5. Hells Gate State Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 97 reviews
Hells Gate lies on river bottom left over from the great ice age floods about 15,000 years ago. At the south end of the park are basaltic columns from the Pomona flows 14 million years ago. Hells Gate State Park was once the site of a Nez Perce Village. Little is left of the village, but depressions south of the campground are the remnants of pit houses used for years by the Nez Perce as they fished for lamprey near Asotin Creek.
Reviewed By circa2015 - Spokane, Washington
Hells Gate State Park is chock full of potential activities. You can ride a horse, use an archery range, walk or bike along the Snake River, picnic, or visit the Jack O'Connor museum. We've done most of these things at Hells Gate, but our favorite use of the park is as a campground. We've had several enjoyable stays at Hells Gate for up to a week at a time. The bathrooms aren't fancy, but they're serviceable. The grounds are clean and well-kept.
6. Beamers Hells Canyon Tours
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 70 reviews
Reviewed By Frank D - Westford
One of the highlights of our bus tour of the Pacific Northwest with Globus was a Beamer's jet boat trip into Hell's Canyon. When things go perfectly all is generally well in the end, but as we all know only too well, things don't always go perfectly. That's why it's necessary to have a back-up plan, and nowhere is that more critical than on a wild, remote river like the Snake. Indeed our trip more than lived up to expectations until we ran into a big problem. We traveled with a group of about 40 elderly people. Many were likely on medications and some were quite limited physically. Most appeared to be in their 70's and older. When we stopped for lunch the woman (owner?) greeting us said that the temperature in the canyon the previous day reached 118 degrees, and was expected to exceed that on the day we were there. There was a severe heat wave during our entire trip, and the canyon contains the heat more than other places. It was 103 degrees where our hotel room was located in Lewiston, and probably around 120 degrees in the canyon. We traveled about 100 miles on the water into and out of the canyon that day. On the way out, probably 10-15 miles from our destination, the captain lost his focus while stopping to look at some wild rams and allowed the boat to drift onto the rocks and run aground in about two feet of water far from shore and in very rapid current. We had seen rams earlier in the trip, so it did not seem necessary to stop to begin with. The jet boats operate in the canyon based on their high speed which allows them to skim the shallow water above the rocks. We were sitting on top of the rocks and the boat could not move off of them. It quickly became clear that the captain was totally without a plan to confront the situation. He appeared panicked and disoriented. He planted his head in his hands and loudly lamented that he couldn't believe what had happened. He eventually got up and walked to the rear of the boat and proclaimed that he couldn't think clearly and was struggling to "get his head around" what had just happened. He told the passengers that this was a very bad situation, and that he had no idea how he was going get us off the boat. The young "first mate" was also panicked. He proposed the preposterous idea that about a dozen men don lifejackets and abandon ship in the fast current in order to lighten the boat and possibly raise it off the rocks. The captain came up with an equally preposterous idea. He told the first mate to go into the water and try to make his way to a small uninhabited island for no purpose that any could discern, including the first mate. It took the passengers to talk the first mate out of it. He worried aloud that he had two small sons and feared for his safety, but didn't want the captain to yell at him. He asked the passengers to support him if the captain got angry. The captain decided he wanted to get in the water to "test the current". Again, the tour passengers had to intervene and insist, against the captain's protest, that he wear a life jacket or tie a rope around himself. I told him that the last thing that we needed was to lose the captain of the boat. He finally agreed to wear the life jacket, but then did not know how to even put it on. He said that he had never tried one on; he had only instructed others how to use it. He also acknowledged to some of the passengers that he did not know how to use the walkie talkie on the boat. We were fortunate to get a cell signal long enough for the captain to contact the boat owner and inform her of our dilemma. We waited a long time, but when someone finally showed up in another boat to try to pull us off the rocks, they were only able to communicate with us by shouting, as they had no functional two way radios to communicate with each other. Since they had to stay quite far from us so as not to ground their own boat, we often could not hear what they were shouting and they could not hear us. In trying to communicate what side of the boat to hook the tow rope, it became apparent that they did not know starboard from port! Despite the fact that we were in treacherous waters, there was no life raft or jetski on the boat to help with hooking the tow rope between the two boats or to go for help in the event of an emergency. Hooking up the tow rope was only accomplished after much time and effort with the captain stumbling and falling on the slippery rocks in the heavy current between the two boats as the "rescue" boat tried to "drift" the tow rope to him.
Prior to the second boat arriving to attempt a tow, our boat's supply of drinking water ran dry. A passing motorboat tried to get close enough to us to throw a couple of bottles of gator aid onboard. They both fell short and sank down and disappeared in the fast current. I took it upon myself to ask the captain if he informed the authorities of our situation and location in case the owner could not pull us off the rocks or got grounded herself. Amazingly, he had not contacted anyone, and it was getting late in the day. Some of the passengers were understandably beginning to show anger and anxiety as they sensed the absence of leadership by the captain. On my questioning, it quickly became clear that he did not know what agency had authority on that body of water, and he had no emergency phone numbers. I told him that it was critical that the authorities know our location and that it was "non-negotiable" that he immediately call 911 and report the incident. He did not argue the point, but continued to get sidetracked. Shortly after, our tour director was able to get a text message to our bus driver and asked him to call 911 on our behalf. I was told by another passenger that she had to tell the tour director to do that.
To conclude, the authorities finally arrived and the second Beamer's boat was able to pull us off the rocks after two hours of being stranded in the middle of the river. Beamer's refunded the passengers ($140 each in cash) but the complete and total lack of training and preparation, abysmal judgement, absence of essential equipment and likely numerous safety violations placed over 40 lives unnecessarily at risk. Watching as blunder piled upon blunder in a downward spiral of gross incompetence on a boat filled with sick and elderly people in 120 degree temperatures with no water and no backup plan provided us with a first row seat to witness how people often die, not necessarily from a single event, but from poor preparation and judgement at every possible level of functioning. Had our boat been grounded during the time that we were farther up the canyon, there would have been no possibility of getting a cell signal to call for help. Even where we were, our bus driver could only be contacted by text message rather than voice.
While Beamer's must bear primary responsibility for these failures, Globus is also culpable. It is Globus' responsibility to thoroughly vet it's vendors. That's what they are paid to do as tour organizers and operators. In our opinion, Globus should have confirmed in advance of our tour that the proper safety equipment was onboard, that the boat and it's crew were properly licensed and trained to use that equipment and that there was current certification and inspection by the appropriate licensing agency.
I have read the defensive responses from Beamer's owner Jill K. to negative reviews posted on this site, and so expect nothing different in regard to this review. However, it is essential to be open to hearing legitimate criticism in order to learn from it and to be able to make changes. In the final analysis there is simply no acceptable excuse for what happened on our tour, and we should all be grateful that there were no serious injuries or deaths.
7. ROW Adventures - Salmon River Canyons
Overall Ratings
5 based on 64 reviews
Welcome to the Riviera of the West! A Salmon River rafting dreamland come true. This is the legendary Salmon River of No Return where beautiful white-sand beaches glisten in the warm sun. Where 70-degree water beckons swimmers of all ages and whitewater rapids splash and make everyone beam with big grins from ear to ear. No other rafting river in the West is such a perfect combination of fun, intermediate rapids, awe-inspiring western scenery and gigantic white sand beaches with idyllic camping conditions. Daytime temperatures are typically 85 to 95 degrees and this, coupled with the warm river water, make for a rafting vacation like no other.
Reviewed By maui315 - Kihei, Hawaii
We did the 5 day rafting trip with a 6 and 9 year old. Everyone had a wonderful time and we felt safe throughout the trip. The rapids were fun but were not "adrenaline fun." The scenery is beautiful but there are very little trees...MoreSo glad to hear you had a good trip on the Salmon River. The kids always have fun with Lily (gives the parents a little break). Thanks for your review and we hope to see you again on another river soon!
8. Basalt Cellars Winery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 22 reviews
Stop by our delightful winery and enjoy the best tasting experience in Washington! We love visiting with guests, and pouring our award-winning wines as we walk them through the wine making process.
Reviewed By Jay F - Austin, Texas
Dropped by Basalt Cellars based on the reviews and was pleasantly surprised. Basalt produces a range of wines with minimal extraction and intervention. Very nice wines that show the characteristics of grapes, terroir, and year. The wines show a very nice touch by the winemaker! Very good wines-generally well priced and good QPR (Quality Price Ratio)! If you like wine Basalt Cellars is well worth visiting!
9. Nez Perce County Historical Society & Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 36 reviews
Learn about the rich history of the Nez Perce Native American tribe, remembered especially for having saved the Lewis and Clark Expedition team from starvation following their harrowing journey through the Bitterroot Mountains. Native American and pioneer artifacts are on display.
Reviewed By lizguptill - Cottonwood, Arizona
We enjoyed our visit to the museum. It was interesting and enjoying learning about the history of the area.
10. Clearwater Canyon Cellars
Overall Ratings
5 based on 15 reviews
Producing ultra-premium wines from locally grown grapes, we are inspired to bring notoriety back to the Lewis-Clark Valley as a world renown wine growing area.
Reviewed By Donna T - Tucson, Arizona
Currently in an industrial center...almost didn't go into the building as it looks like a warehouse. Wait...it is! Moving to new vineyard soon...family property in the hills and should be wonderful.
Small family start-up winery. Great wines. Lovely story of how this couple started their business.....from Mom's point of view...she was our hostess. Hope the business continues to grow and we can get wine through a retail site as we live out of state. Great experience!
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