Hells Gate State Park occupies 960 acres along the Snake River on the southern edge of Lewiston, Idaho, where the river enters Hells Canyon from downstream. At the threshold of the deepest canyon in North America, it holds a distinctive place in Idaho’s park system as the state’s lowest-elevation state park at 733 feet above sea level. Created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate the construction of Lower Granite Dam, the site was leased by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation beginning in 1973. It remains a major access point for hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, boating, swimming, camping, and picnicking.