The Lewis and Clark River Cruise
The Corps of Discovery’s 1805 journey to the Pacific, told stop by stop.
Get Columbia & Snake QuotesWhy It Is Called the Lewis and Clark River Cruise
A Lewis and Clark river cruise retraces, in reverse or in order, the final leg of the Corps of Discovery’s journey to the Pacific. In 1805, after crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, the expedition reached the Clearwater River in what is now Idaho, built dugout canoes with the help of the Nez Perce, and paddled downstream to the Snake and on to the Columbia.
The Story, Stop by Stop
Clearwater and Snake
Clarkston and Lewiston are named for the two captains. The Nez Perce, who fed and guided the exhausted party, are remembered at Nez Perce National Historical Park sites around the region.
The confluence
In October 1805 the expedition reached the meeting of the Snake and the Columbia, near today’s Pasco, and camped at what is now Sacajawea Historical State Park.
Through the Gorge
The party ran or portaged the Columbia’s rapids, long since drowned by the dams, and traded with the peoples at Celilo Falls and The Dalles.
The Pacific
In November 1805 Clark wrote “Ocian in view! O! the joy.” — he was looking at the wide estuary. The expedition spent the wet winter of 1805–06 at Fort Clatsop near Astoria.
The winter camp and the river-mouth sites are protected as Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, which you can visit on Astoria stops.
Beyond the Expedition
The route carries other chapters too. Astoria, founded in 1811 as a fur-trading post, is one of the oldest American settlements west of the Rockies. The Dalles marked the end of the overland Oregon Trail for many emigrants, who then faced the river. On the Columbia Plateau, the Hanford site near Richland is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Taken together, a week on the Columbia and Snake is a history course you sail through — one reason these cruises appeal so strongly to travelers in their fifties and beyond; Baby Boomer Cruises has more trip ideas for that crowd.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Lewis and Clark river cruise suitable if I am not a history buff?
Yes. The history adds depth, but the scenery, wine country, waterfalls and Hells Canyon are reason enough to go. The talks on board are optional and pitched for curious travelers rather than specialists.
Which places on a Lewis and Clark river cruise did the expedition actually visit?
Many of them: the Snake and Clearwater confluence at today’s Lewiston and Clarkston, the Snake–Columbia confluence near Pasco, the Columbia River Gorge, Cape Disappointment at the river mouth and the Fort Clatsop winter camp near Astoria.
Are there lectures on board?
Both main lines carry historians or naturalists who talk about the expedition, the Native nations it met and the river’s later history. Ask us which sailings have special guest speakers.
Follow Lewis and Clark by Riverboat
Our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise will find sailings with the history focus you want and send free quotes.
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