Things to do in Lewiston
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Lewiston
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall, with warm rivers, running boats and the year's strongest events at both ends.
Spring greens the hills, jet boats build their schedules, and the Dogwood Festival arrives in April.
Peak canyon and river season but properly hot, with highs in the 90s and past 100, so plan around midday.
Fall steelhead dominates, the county fair season has passed, and Winter Spirit begins late in the month.
Quiet and mild by Idaho standards, with Winter Spirit in December, winter steelhead and reduced hours.
What's on
- Dogwood Festival April, with events into early May
Arts, food and community events across the valley under the flowering dogwoods.
- Avista NAIA World Series Late May to early June
Small college baseball's national championship at Harris Field, hosted in Lewiston since 2000 in its current run.
- Lewiston's Hot August Nights Late August
Classic cars, a show and shine and cruising take over downtown for the valley's summer street party.
- Lewiston Roundup Usually the week after Labor Day, Wednesday to Saturday
One of the Northwest's storied professional rodeos, and the hardest week of the year to get a room.
- Winter Spirit Late November through December
The volunteer run Christmas light display that fills Locomotive Park with animated, music synced installations.
Best things to do in Lewiston
Lewis & Clark Discovery Center
The orientation stop for the canyon, with a film, expedition exhibits and one of the best river views in town.
Nez Perce National Historical Park Visitor Center
The essential Nimiipuu history stop, a free museum and film on the Clearwater with riverside mission grounds to walk.
Nez Perce County Historical Society & Museum
A dense little county museum covering Lewiston itself, from territorial capital days to logging, rivers and the Roundup.
Clearwater Canyon Cellars
The valley's decorated flagship winery, pouring serious award winning wine in a laid back farm tasting room.
Lindsay Creek Vineyards
A hillside vineyard tasting room built for the last hour of light, with a broad view back over the whole valley.
Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History
Downtown's arts and history fixture, with rotating exhibitions and a restored 19th century Chinese temple.
Locomotive Park
A small park around a 1924 steam locomotive, transformed each December by the Winter Spirit light display.
Tsceminicum
The sculpture and interpretive site where the Clearwater meets the Snake, telling Nez Perce stories at the meeting of the waters.
Where to stay in Lewiston
21st Street / riverfront corridor
first trips, groups and full service stays
The flagship hotel, restaurants and event space sit here, five minutes from downtown and ten from Hells Gate.
Lewiston Orchards / Nez Perce Drive hilltop
quiet stays, families and light sleepers
Benchland hotels above the river with cooler air, calm streets and distance from the mill side riverfront.
North and South Highway, north Lewiston
budget one night stops and early fishing starts
Basic highway motels north of downtown, car first and cheap, with the branded option the safest of the tier.
Think twice about
- Mill-side eastern riverfront
The pulp mill here can bring a sulphurous odour, haze, truck and rail traffic, and there is no evening life. Sleep on the hilltop or the 21st Street corridor instead.
Best restaurants in Lewiston
Seasons Specialty Dining
The valley's special occasion table, a small dinner only bistro doing bite size steak, fish and local wines.
Jollymore's a Dining Experience
The classic Lewiston celebration room, steakhouse cooking by a fireplace with pairing dinners and Sunday brunch.
Sauté on Sixth
The cross river splurge in Clarkston, with a downstairs cocktail bar, a strong specials board and housemade desserts.
Mystic Cafe
The beloved all day downtown pick, brick walls and live music, from garbage potatoes to a much praised lobster roll.
Bravas
The foodie favourite for locally sourced steak, pasta and burgers, plus the bite size steak with poppy seed house salad.
Bo Jack's Broiler Pit
The old school bite size steak house, where the order is steak bites and boiled shrimp before a canyon trip.
Zany's
The big sociable valley favourite, a bar and grill with cult chicken tortilla soup and sushi people drive for.
Effie Tavern
Home since 1967 of the one pound Effie burger on fresh baked buns, in a divey family tavern on Main Street.
Outdoor things to do in Lewiston
Snake River Adventures
The headline full day jet boat run into Hells Canyon, with rapids, petroglyphs, wildlife and a ranch lunch stop.
Beamers Hells Canyon Tours
The valley's other jet boat house since 1974, and the one with a boat access only overnight camp in the canyon.
Hells Gate State Park
The town's river front yard, with a swim beach, basalt bluff trails, disc golf, a marina and deer in the campground.
Lewiston Levee Parkway Trail
About 12 flat paved miles along both rivers, the best free hour in town at sunrise or in the evening.
Clearwater River
A guided day on the Clearwater chasing fall steelhead, with Snake River sturgeon and salmon filling the calendar.
Bryden Canyon Golf Course
The public canyon course, wide fairways and big views at municipal prices, playable nearly all year.
Lewiston Golf & Country Club
The semi private step up, with slick bent grass greens, valley panoramas and an aqua driving range.
Best hotels in Lewiston
Hells Canyon Grand Hotel
The valley's only full service hotel, with two restaurants, pools and event space on the riverfront corridor.
Hampton Inn Lewiston
The best reviewed stay in town, a hilltop Hampton praised for its staff advice and its included hot breakfast.
Holiday Inn Express Lewiston
A quiet hilltop hotel overlooking the Clearwater, with included hot breakfast and an indoor pool and hot tub.
Super 8 by Wyndham Lewiston
The honest cheap sleep, a branded budget motel adequate for a fishing dawn start or a one night canyon stopover.
Is Lewiston expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $150 a person |
| Splurge | $300 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Snake River Adventures: weeks ahead
- Beamers Hells Canyon Tours: weeks ahead
- Clearwater River: months ahead
- Bryden Canyon Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Lewiston Golf & Country Club: a few days ahead
- Hells Canyon Grand Hotel: a few days ahead
- Hampton Inn Lewiston: a few days ahead
- Holiday Inn Express Lewiston: a few days ahead
- Book full day Hells Canyon jet boats days to weeks ahead in summer and fall, and guided steelhead dates weeks to months ahead.
- Seasons Specialty Dining serves only four evenings a week, so reserve it when you reserve the boat.
- Roundup, NAIA World Series, Hot August Nights and Dogwood Festival weeks compress hotel stock, so book rooms early.
- Check small winery hours and the Spalding visitor centre schedule the day before, not the morning of.
Is Lewiston safe?
- Lock cars at trailheads and boat launches, the one property crime pattern locals warn about.
- The Snake and Clearwater are cold, fast working rivers with barge traffic, so swim at the Hells Gate beach and wear a life jacket.
- Carry water and start early in summer, because canyon bottom heat can far exceed town temperatures.
- Watch foot placement off path in dry canyon country, where rattlesnakes live.
Lewiston travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The half day jet boat turns around before the deepest gorge, so do not mistake it for the full canyon experience.
- One night is too short, because the town repays a canyon day plus a wine and history day.
- The cheapest unbranded motels have dire review profiles and the savings are rarely worth it.
- After about 9pm downtown is quiet, so plan evenings around dinner, wine and early starts.
Getting around Lewiston: public transport and more
- You need a car, because the sights are spread across a valley and rideshare supply is thin.
- Downtown Main Street walks as one cluster of museums, cafes and dinner rooms, and the levee trail is car free once you reach it.
- Lewiston runs on Pacific Time, unlike most of Idaho, and Clarkston across the bridge is five minutes away.
- Most visitors fly to Spokane about two hours north or Pullman about 35 minutes north and drive in.
Who Lewiston suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Lewiston your trip
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