Sacajawea Historical State Park

Sacajawea State Park is at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, a location where the Corps of Discovery camped over 200 years ago and Native Americans camped for thousands of years before that. The hiking opportunities are not stellar, but not entirely absent either.

Start by walking around the paved trail through the irrigated, developed part of the park, where you can see the Snake River flowing into the mighty Columbia. The park has a well-designed interpretive center that is well worth a visit. The park also boasts seven “story circles,” part of artist Maya Lin’s Confluence Project, revealing the deeper history of the area. Lin invites visitors to: “Go out and read each Story Circle. Each one frames and tells you a little bit more about this place in terms of the Native American tribes who came here.”

A longer hike winds through the undeveloped, northern section of the park. The map available on the State Park website shows several spurs off the main trail. However, those spurs are not maintained, are difficult to find, and some of them dead-end in wetlands. The hike described here uses the main trail and the park road to form a loop. 

The trailhead is near the boat launch, where you’ll also find a restroom and an information sign about traditional Native American tule mat lodges. A few steps down the trail you’ll see a couple of teepee frames on the right. The first 0.4 mile of the trail is a dirt track passing through grass, stunted trees, and sagebrush. Turn left on the old crumbling blacktop road through defunct cottonwoods. After another half mile, you’ll reach a fork. The branch to the right dead-ends after it passes by cattails and through some impressive bunches of tule that have nearly engulfed the road – it’s a lovely reminder of how nature can reclaim its own. After admiring that, take the left branch, a dirt track that runs parallel to the park road and eventually joins it. Follow the park road back to your car.

Sacajawea State Park is closed from November through April, but you can park outside the gate and walk in if you wish.

WTA Pro Tip: If you’d like to explore the wider area, the 23-mile, paved Sacagawea Heritage Trail begins at the park road on the west side of the park.