June 26, 2007.

We are staying at: Hells Canyon Resort in Clarkston, Washington. Hells Canyon Resort is a top notch RV-Resort at $30 per-night with cable and wifi FHU totally paved interior roads and pads. This is the RV-Park we would recommend when staying in the Lewiston, Idaho/Clarkston, Washington area. Cell phones work, TV recepiton works, it is clean and safe and very convenient to shopping and sightseeing.

On the north side of Lewiston is a BIG hill as in a 2,000 foot grade. There are two routes up and down this hill. This travelogue covers the old road known as Spiral Highway on Lewiston Hill. The NEW route is over US-95 and I have covered that grade in another travel log.

Lewiston Hill: Spiral Highway aka "the old Lewiston Grade"

Spiral Highway aka "the old Lewiston Grade"

The road that was built up/down Lewiston Hill in 1917 is the Spiral Highway. Over 10 miles it rises 2000 feet in elevation. It also dropps 2000 feet in those same 10 miles.

Constructed in 1917 the Spiral Highway took 64 turns to traverses 2000 feet of elevation change. It was designed to be a 9.5-mile stretch with a four percent grade.

Today another grade traverses Lewiston Hill without the switchbacks and is much less than 10 miles, that highway is the grade on US 95 as it heads north out of Lewiston.

Spiral Highway aka "the old Lewiston Grade"

We are heading up the old spiral highway. The view as we work our way up the highway is totally awesome. This picture is looking to the southeast. That huge plant in the picture is the Potlatch, pulp/paper/lumber mill and press board manufacturing facility. That is the Clearwater River running by the Potlatch plant.

Clearwater River & Lewiston, Idaho as viewed from the Spiral Highway

Notice the spiral highway as it spirals down the grade.

What you can not see is the Clearwater River that runs from left to right at the bottom of this hill. The reason you do not see the river is because the hill is so steep that the river is hidden. The river that you do see is the Snake River that is flowing north (toward us). You can see where the north flowing Snake River meets Lewiston Hill and takes a turn to the west at the same time that it merges with the Clearwater River.

Clearwater River on the left and Snake River on the right as seen from Spiral Highway

This picture is looking a little west of south but mostly south. The Snake River is flowing north toward us with Lewiston, Idaho on the left side of the Snake and Clarkston, Washington on the right side.

That is the Clearwater River on the left side of this picture. The Clearwater River is flowing west (to the right in this picture) while the Snake River is flowing north. At the confluence of the two rivers the enhanced Snake River flows west to meet with the mighty Columbia River not far away in Washington.

Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington as viewed from the Spiral Highway as it climbs "the old Lewiston Grade"

This picture has it all, Lewiston, Idaho on the left, with the Snake River separating it from the State of Washington and city of Clarkston on the right side of the Snake River. The Clearwater River is in the bottom left corner with the Snake River flowing toward us in the center of the picture. Look closely on the hill and you can spot several sections of the ten mile long Spiral Highway.

Spiral Highway as it climbs "the old Lewiston Grade"

This is a good view of several layers of the spiral highway as it climbs Lewiston Hill. The manufacturing plant in the background is across the Clearwater River in Lewiston. It is the very large Potlach facility that is a combination pulp mill, lumber mill, press board manufacturing facility and I am sure that they sell thousands of bags of bark.

Spirals on the Spiral Highway "the old Lewiston Grade"

This is another picture showing several of the spirals on the spiral highway.

Switchbacks and spirals on the Spiral Highway

The spiral highway as it climbs Lewiston Hill.

View of Spiral Highway aka "the old Lewiston Grade"

This picture gives a good view of the spiral highway on Lewiston Hill with the Clearwater River and Lewiston in the valley.

Spiral Highway aka "the old Lewiston Grade"

That is the Clearwater River with Lewiston, Idaho in the background. While it is difficult to tell from this picture Lewiston itself is on a large hill. The streets moving away from the river all seem to have a name with "grade" in them because that is exactly what they are GRADES. On this side of the river you can see the spiral highway as it snakes back and forth across the face of this mountain so that is climbs the 2,000 foot grade in 10-miles of spiraling switchbacks.

The Spiral Highway as it "spirals" up "the old Lewiston Grade"

This picture probably does the best job of showcasing the Spiral Highway as it winds it way up Lewiston Hill.

That is the Clearwater River flowing left to right across the picture with Lewiston, Idaho in the background.

Lewiston Hill

Once at the top of the grade we took a scenic drive through the Palouse Region of Washington and Idaho before returning to Lewiston on US-95. Of course US-95 traverses Lewiston Hill just like the Spiral Highway, only it drops much more precipitously as it eliminates the switchbacks. It is a hoot to drive just in a different manner than the Spiral Highway.