Clarkston sits on the Washington bank of the Snake River, directly opposite Lewiston in Idaho, and the two towns, one on each side of a bridge, effectively form a single community in a river canyon of dry hills. The river here is wide and green, and the elevation is low, only about eight hundred feet, which makes it one of the warmest places in the Pacific Northwest. In summer the heat can be fierce, with temperatures well above thirty-five degrees Celsius, but the winters are mild.
The town is named for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which came through here in the autumn of 1805 and again on the return journey the following spring, with help from the Nez Perce people, whose homeland this is. The river has changed since then. A series of dams on the Snake and the Columbia now turns the river into a chain of reservoirs, and ocean-going barges can reach Lewiston, making it the farthest inland seaport on the West Coast. Grain from the Palouse wheat fields is shipped from here to Asia.
For a rider, Clarkston is the end of a rolling descent from the Palouse, and the last stretch is a big drop down into the canyon on a road that wiggles down the hillside with views over the valley. It is a relief to hit the river, with its greenery and shade, after the open wheat country. The roads here are paved and good, and traffic can be heavy around the bridges. This is also the gateway to Hells Canyon, the deepest river gorge in North America, which lies upstream and can be seen by jet boat from the town.
Everything is close at hand, with fuel stations, supermarkets and motels, and the riverside parks make a pleasant place to rest. The Lewis and Clark interpretive centre and the Nez Perce historical park, on the Idaho side, are well worth a visit if you want to know more about the region. Summer evenings are warm and long, and you can eat outside by the water. Spring and autumn are comfortable, and the light on the hills turns golden, a good time to be here.