Hells Canyon Boat Tour on Snake River

[coljack]

I would appreciate any opinions  on this tour.  Is it a wild ride?  I saw a video from one company that looked pretty wild.  If it is, how long is the wild part; the overall tour was six hours--surely not six hours of that pitching and yawing?  Also, how does it fit into the American Empress cruise?  I know it is offered as optional but we are considering getting to Spokane a day earlier and taking it then on our own.  If we do that, will we be twiddling our thumbs the first day on the ship?  We are on the June 2, Clarkston to Vancouver.  Thanks in advance for anyone taking the trouble to answer.

[surmy555]

Not wild at all. Certainly not a white water type tour. Clarkson, where the boat leaves from is 2.5 hours from Spokane so I'm not sure you would want to do this on your own. The ship overnights in Clarkson the 1st night so we arrived around 4 PM, checked in, there was a 2 hour dinner cruise and then back to the dock for the night.

 

The Hell Canyon tour was the next morning 7:30 - 12:30. The ship sailed at 2 that afternoon. We missed the hop on hop off tour of Clarkson by taking the Hells Canyon tour. We enjoyed the tour, a little pricey but great scenery and lots of information about the canyon and area. All in all I would recommend it

[coljack]

Thank you, Surmy!  That was very useful info and we will do it as you suggested.  Always wanted to see Hells Canyon, drove near it several times but never had time to stop.  This is our first river cruise in the USA--always been an ocean cruiser or on European rivers.  I always found Cruisecritic to be very useful in the past, but there don't seem to be nearly as many users of the boards for USA cruises.  On the Regent boards, if someone asks a question, there is frequently a raging battle of opinions within a few hours.  (-:   Thanks again.

[Buck1949]

Hi there....we are considering this tour next month and have heard differing opinions........would either of you mind expressing your thoughts?

 

-Did anyone find the Hells Canyon tour to be too long?

-Were there restrooms onboard the tour boat?

-Was the tour boat crowded. (2 in our group are large guys, and would like a little room)

-Would you do this tour again, knowing what you did/didn’t do on this trip

 

I tried to find the name of the tour company or boat but have not had much luck. 

 

any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

Thank you in advance!

[surmy555]

Hi Buck

 

I thought the tour time was about right, not too long for us.

 

Yes there was a Marine head on the boat. Not fancy but doable. Also the boat stops about half way through at a place that has nicer restrooms as well as snacks and refreshments.

 

The boat was not completely full. We were able to move around to different seats as well as hanging out in the back of the boat with the first mate.

 

Yes, I would do this again

 

Surmy

[Bop]

Already signed up for this one. Sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity to me. Hoping for some great landscapes and maybe some wildlife shots.

Jim