Hells Gate State Park Campground

Hell's Gate State Park is at a much lower elevation than most of the surrounding area to the north and east, and fall arrives later and spring earlier. We have stayed here for early season camping as not only is the weather usually much warmer than at home, but there are services readily available in both Lewiston and Clarkston if anything has been forgotten.

This is a jumping off point for jet boat tours of the Snake River Canyon, and if you are in the area, a trip up or down the old Spiral Highway is a reminder of the engineering prowess used when it was easier to use landforms to advantage when highway building, rather than blasting a path through the mountains.

We stayed in the Alpine Loop with 50 amp and water. Wonderful to have large shade trees because it was hot for Labor Day weekend. No satellite access but the shade was better.

Level asphalt sites around a large green area. Very quiet during the week but the weekend was full and busy. Tent campers spread out into the whole space with multiple tents and chairs and games and - geez everything! Lots of camp fires but quiet time was respected. Nice and dark at night.

Be sure to keep your dogs on a leash every second or you'll be threatened with expulsion! Our friends in one of the cabins got a visit from a ranger even though dogs were on their porch.

Lots of river access and a nice swimming beach. Paths for bikes and walking. Small but nice interpretive center.

Lewiston has all services and is a cute little college town. Nothing special. Eat at the Mystic Cafe - it's divine!

Don't try to check-in before 2 pm. They are adamant that you cannot, even through there were over 40 open sites. Gave me the number of all the sites available for that night but couldn't park in any without checking in. Original check in fee was 33.68 for electric and water as a nonresident. Website indicates between 22 and 30. Once we got in, the site was level. The next morning we got up and a envelop was on our tow vehicle demanding $5 more. When we asked "why" we were told that all tow vehicles were charged an additional fee. That is not posted anywhere at the campground, on the website, or mentioned when we checked in. We told the young man at check in that we had a tow. Trucks towing a trailer were not charged additional charge. Rules were rigidly enforced with no leeway. Bike path along the river in the park was poorly maintained but once you left the park was well maintained.

Nice park but very noisy. Large power boats on the river are very loud! And they are sticklers for not checking in until 2 pm! It's very clean. Be sure to check out the Jack O'Conner museum.

Daily rate includes daily pass and taxes. We did not have an annual pass.

We stayed her on June 16th. We had originally planned to spend 2. The Jet boat company said that that week was a black out date on the river. The spaces were large as were the trees. I was disappointed with the visibility and access to the river. The beach along entire length of the campground was overgrown and used as a dump for their green waste. The grounds are what I would not call manicured. If you wanted to access the water you had to hoof it down to the day use park. The day use park was very well maintained and BUSY.

This was a nice campground with a good site, but it was noisy. There were horrendously noisy boats, which sounded as if they had no engine mufflers, racing up and down the river. On two nights out of the four I was there, there were noisy drunks outside late at night. The campground hosts did absolutely nothing to enforce the quiet time regulation. On the second night, another camper yelled at the drunks to be quiet, and they responded by repeatedly setting off a car alarm, and still the hosts did nothing.

The rate shown on recreation.gov was $24, but they added $8/night because I was not an Idaho resident. That hardly seems to be a way to welcome tourists to the state. With fees and taxes, the total came to $36/night - 50% more than the original price.

Verizon 4G was 4 bars, -103 dB, 24 Mbps down and 2 up.

Price reflects water/electric hookup in a pull-thru site, and $5.00/day for our toad. (At a previous state park we only had to pay the $5.00 once, not daily.) There is no early check-in even with a reservation and site is empty, so don’t arrive before 2 pm! We enjoyed the campground for the bike trail access to town and beyond. Shady site, not particularly noisy at the Aspen end but could see where others would be challenged. (Boy Scout camp out in a different loop 😮) Did not hear jet boats. Construction on roadway requiring following a pilot vehicle every time in and out. Showers/bathrooms were adequate. We used the separate handicapped bathroom/showers at rear of building that were not as “well-used.” Facility is older and in need of updating. Adequate AT&T cell service, Verizon was poor for us. I think next time we’re in the area we’ll try boondocking out on Snake River Rd. Lots of spots and free!

This campground is well maintained and easy to get to. It has a park feeling to it with green grass, tall trees, and the Snake River at it’s edge.
As I said, it is noisy! People right across from me at this moment are talking so loud, it’s making me sick.
People just do not know how much their voices carry across the campground.

People have commented that the boats on the river are loud, but they do not bother us. There is some road noise from the highway on the other side of the river.

The sites are paved and fairly level. The pull through sites are long! The fire pit is near the concrete patio which is great for it’s convenience.

There is an eddy area on the river where people can swim or play in the water.

I should’ve read the reviews. I looked at the map saw what looked like a quiet park on the river, away from town, subdivisions, railroad tracks and highways. Was looking so forward to the stay.
Three camp grounds are nice, beautiful big trees, small but very comfortable sites. Great if you are a deaf person!

The boats on this river are terribly noisy, I believe there is a jet boat rental company Nearby. What do you do when you rent a jet boat? You take it to top speed, and have fun in it. And you gun it and lurch it. And so does the next renter and the next renter… Then there’s the highway on the west side of the river. Runs along the bottom of the hill, so naturally all the Highway noise comes across the river to the campground.😟
We didn’t have any problem on a Sunday night with drunks or noisy people in the campground, has stated in some other reviews. Maybe that was because there was so much noise from the river and highway that everybody was hiding out in their rig for peace and quiet?
It’s too bad, because it is a nice park. The garbage is overflowing the dumpster on this Sunday night, maybe the pick up is on Monday and that’s a whole weeks worth? I don’t know, but that’s the only negative thing I can say about the park itself, is the overflowing dumpster. I’m sure it’s just a temporary thing, maybe shorthanded because of the Covid thing or whatever.
Again, it’s a pretty park and amenities seem fine and the price is good. Wear your earmuffs and enjoy it!
We stayed Hitched in site A30 with a 36 foot fifth wheel and extended cab truck.

We arrived on a Thursday without reservations. We had been boondocking and dry camping for over 2 weeks, so having power, water, flush toilets, TV reception and green grass was wonderful.

I can see how those camping around you could ruin your experience and I can see how the noisy jetboats could also ruin your experience. Best to visit mid week. Be aware that the riverside sites are not riverview and will cost you an extra $2. There is a paved path that will be between you and the river as well as a lot of brush. Site pads were large and level, especially the pull through sites. Restrooms were out dated, but clean.

This is a huge shady park. Besides camping there is a large day use area with picnic tables, shelters, restrooms, disc golf and a swimming area. There is a small marina and small camp store. The discovery center had some good outdoor exhibits, inside was taped off due to Covid. There is a paved trail that goes through the campground and along the river into town.