5 Reasons You’ll Love the Columbia and Snake Rivers Cruise with UnCruise Adventures
UnCruise Adventures’ Wilderness Legacy awaits our arrival on embarkation day in Clarkston, Washington.
River cruise offerings in the Pacific Northwest for many years consisted almost entirely of heritage-style and wine-related journeys.
But UnCruise Adventures exposed us to a range of exciting things you can in this fascinating region of the country — other than hear the tales of Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea.
Instead, we got to get a taste of some of the scenic areas that those legendary pioneers got to discover on their epic travels.
UnCruise Adventures is boldly reshaping what a river cruise can be with its new “Rivers of Adventure” program on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in Washington and Oregon.
While those two big waterways grab the headlines of the itinerary, we played on the Palouse, Deschutes and Salmon rivers, as well.
Check out the UnCruise Adventures excursions we tried during our weeklong cruise from Clarkston, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, on the 90-passenger Wilderness Legacy.
1. Hiking the Rowena Plateau
A fantastic way to start the morning. It was crisp and quiet on the plateau.
In the Columbia River Gorge, we left the ship and went on a morning hike on the plateau, which had turned golden brown during the start of the fall. Below, we could see the gorge, and on the trail, we watched a herd of deer bounding away as we had startled them from their early-morning routine. Then, we hiked to Tom McCall Point along switchbacks to the prime viewing point over the valley and gorge. Mount Hood and Mount Adams looked glorious with snowy peaks.
Yep, that's Mount Adams.
Time to celebrate! We made it to the peak, Tom McCall Point.
2. Palouse Falls State Park and Palouse River Kayaking
Palouse Falls State Park had gorgeaous weather during our morning hike, and the group eagerly explored the maze of trails within the valley.
The trail led to this stunning scene — and yes, I went in for a quick dip.
The falls rage over a rock wall and down into the valley. We descended from our starting point down a rocky path and made it to the pools of glacial melt and beyond to a slice of trail along a razorback ridge. The trail through dry steppe area let us see dry grasses, wildflowers and shrubs.
I was the only one brave enough (I call it brave, OK?; others said I’m crazy) to hop in for a couple minutes to cool off. Wow, it was it cold!
In the late afternoon, we went for kayaking session in the Palouse River through a stunning (of course) stretch of secluded wilderness.
Then, in the afternoon, we continued our adventures by getting on the Palouse River.
3. Cycling on the Twin Tunnels Trail
One of the Twin Tunnels. Just pedal toward the light at the end and pop out for the awesome views ahead.
This was one of the best views of the Columbia River Gorge, seen during a stop near the turnaround point of our bike ride.
The afternoon Mosier Twin Tunnels ride in Hood River, Oregon, is an 11-mile out-and-back along a “no cars allowed” stretch of the historic Columbia River Highway. This bike ride is on the same day as the Rowena Plateau hike, which means you're in for a great day of activity — and will have totally earned your refreshments at one of the towns fabulous craft breweries. (We chose to toss back a few at Full Sail Brewing Co.)
4. Whitewater Rafting on the Deschutes River
We were among the happy paddlers from Legacy who ventured out on a sunny day to splash around a bit in this scenic river.
Colleen almost went for a swim in Oregon's Deschutes River as our group of five paddled through the Class 2 and 3 rapids over the course of three hours and eight miles of excitement. A few others did take the plunge off the other boats. During our journey downriver, rocky canyon walls embraced us, we spotted a variety of birds and our guide Larry regaled us with a history of the region. We dried off in the sunshine and had a picnic lunch afterward.
Other Activities
We had a blast sightseeing in Hells Canyon. We chose a vantage point from the back of the speedboat and saw a range of creatures, including big horn sheep.
We also were able to use the free bike rentals arranged by UnCruise to explore Richland, Washington. The line also arranged an all-day excursion into Hells Canyon that includes a speed boat ride and amazing lunch spread at Garden Creek, a nature preserve and fishing lodge located on the banks of the Snake River at the intersection of Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The nature preserve has an orchard and roving bands of deer and wild turkeys.
On another afternoon, we were offered the chance to take a short biking outing to a vineyard for wine tasting. We also loved the morning birdwatching tours; we went for a walk one morning and out on a skiff on the river on another. Plus, at the end of our cruise, during a stop at Cascade Locks, we went for a short afternoon hike on the Pacific Crest Trail during our free time.
Tell us: What do you think about the idea of a river cruise with all these activities? I think we know the answer.
Happy travels, and thanks for reading,
John