Snake, ID

Lower Snake

Lower Snake
Photo by Thomas O'Keefe taken 23JUL2005

River Description

The last section of the Snake suitable for whitewater craft starts from the confluence with the Salmon River and ends at the slackwater of Lewiston, Idaho, an inland "seaport" created by the four Lower Snake River Dams. Those who boat this section will be either continuing on downstream from Pittsburgh Landing which is the traditional take-out for Hell's Canyon Trips or more commonly coming from the Salmon River where it joins the Snake.

This lower section of Hell's Canyon has some beautiful scenery and great beach camping. You will be sharing the river with jet boats which during the peak of the summer season will always be in sight. There are several fun bigwater class II rapids with a couple featuring some great wave trains. Once you reach the confluence of the Grande Ronde the number of day users increases. Most who have started their trip further upstream take out here at Heller Bar, but those looking for a fun day float and willing to dodge the jet boats can start their trip from here; despite the jet boat traffic, everyone has space to play. When the river is at the right level, kayakers will find a couple of decent park-and-play spots in this roadside stretch between Heller Bar and Lewiston.

Continuing downstream from Lewiston, the Snake is a flatwater (at least as long as the dams are in place) but the Northwest Discovery Trail is currently being planned which would provide a paddler route that starts on the Clearwater, joins the Snake at Lewiston, and continues on down the Columbia.

Logistics

You have a couple different options for this trip. You can start from Pittsburg Landing located at river mile 215.0 (or if you are on Hell's Canyon trip just continue on downstream). More commonly this trip is done as an extension of a Lower Salmon trip since there is no road access where the Salmon joins the Snake at river mile 188.2. Although there are a couple private ranch roads, the next public access to the Snake is just downstream of the confluence with the Grande Ronde on river left at river mile 168.7. This is the public boat launch at Heller Bar which also has overnight parking. From Heller Bar downstream to Lewiston (on the Idaho side) and Clarkston (on the Washington side) the road follows the river along river left. There are several places to access the river that are popular with locals throughout the summer. The river reaches the confluence with the Clearwater at river mile 139.2.