Are you heading down to Pullman next weekend to move your kid into the dorm? Or perhaps you’re going over to Washington State University for a football game in September?
Here’s a good side trip when you tire of the Palouse wheat fields.
Drive south on U.S. 195 and U.S. 95 to Lewiston, Idaho, where you pick up U.S. 12 to head east up the Clearwater River.
You’ll be on the Nez Perce Reservation. Make your first stop just off the highway at the Spalding Visitor Center of the Nez Perce National Historical Park.
The center features an informative film about the history of the Nimi’ipuu people, more widely known as the Nez Perce. Those of us who grew up in the Northwest remember from our regional history studies the 1,100-mile trek by the great Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce band from the Wallowa Valley of northeast Oregon to near the Canadian border in Montana where they were captured by the U.S. Army in 1877 and placed on small reservations.
The park has spots in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, all country were the Nimi’ipuu had lived prior to pressure from the U.S. government to give up the homeland that supported their culture for thousands of years.
At the center, see old photos, arts and crafts by the people and a range of historical and environmental exhibits.
Get back on U.S. 12 and drive up the river canyon to Orofino.
The Clearwater is a popular fishing river, and it is home to the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery, run by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service and open for visits by the public.
After swimming 500 miles from the ocean and up the fish ladders at eight dams, the adult salmon, steelhead and rainbow trout enter the hatchery where they are held until spawned.
Learn about the life cycle of these fish, and, this time of year, look for chinook in the ponds at the hatchery.
Up the hill from the hatchery is the Dworshak Reservoir, which is a great place to put in your canoe or kayak, or just sit in the sun. Be sure to drive over the reservoir at the Dent Bridge, the longest cable suspension bridge in Idaho, for a spectacular view of the region.
Hiking in the Nez Perce-Cleawater National Forest offers views of wildflowers, waterfalls, white water and mountain meadows. More information is at www.fs.usda.gov/nezperceclearwater.
My dad taught in a one-room school house near Orofino not long after he returned from Europe after World War II.
He always talked about the beauty of the winding Clearwater canyon and he was right. This time of year, the wildlife is abundant.
There’s plenty of great camping along the Clearwater, but when we make trips to Orofino, we stay at the Konkolville Motel on Michigan Avenue a short distance from downtown.
The inexpensive motel has a nice swimming pool, continental breakfast, grill-your-own steak nights, a fish cleaning station for fishermen and lots of parking for motorcyle riders.
And don’t be surprised if a deer family walks through that parking lot.
Stop by the Orofino Chamber of Commerce at Main and Michigan to get the latest on river rafting trips, and ask about the Clearwater County Fair and Orofino Lumberjack Days in mid-September. The Clearwater Historical Museum is open most afternoons on College Avenue, where you can learn about the Nez Perce, the pioneers, homesteads, mining, the old logging camps and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Because we travel with a young granddaughter when we visit Orofino, we don’t hit the fancier cafes. The Ponderosa Restaurant on Michigan Avenue, which has been there for 60 years, is about our speed. The steak specials on Saturday nights are worth it.
In the fall, the river reflects the colors of maples and other trees. It’s a good time to make a side trip up the Clearwater Canyon.
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