| Lewis and Clark Trail State Park covers 37 acres with 1,333 feet of freshwater shoreline on the Touchet River. The park offers 30 standard campsites, 50 picnic sites, a large kitchen shelter, one small kitchen shelter, a trailer dump, a group camp site with a 50-person capacity, a 1.0 mile interpretive trail, one small interpretive display shelter, a .75 mile bird watching trail, a small shop, and an amphitheater for campfire programs. Activities at the park include bird watching, camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking, sledding and base camping for big game and bird hunting. Fishing for rainbow and brown trout is excellent. Tubing and wading are popular activities. Washington's climate varies with each region. The Cascades split the state and alter weather patterns. Lewis and Clark Trail State Park, located east of the mountains, receives significantly less rainfall than regions west of the mountains with an average annual precipitation of twelve inches. Average summer temperatures are 94 degrees maximum and 50 degrees minimum. Because central Washington is landlocked and subject to winter winds, winter temperatures are much colder than those in western Washington. The park is located on the historic Nez Perce trail that extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Remnants of the trail can be observed near the park. The explorers Lewis & Clark (for whom the park is named) passed through the property in 1806 and commented on the unusual character of the vegetation. The park was originally homesteaded by the Bateman family in 1864 and was the site for neighboring farmers' post-harvest picnics and games. Homesteading began in the region in 1859. Some of the original homestead sites still remain. Woolly mammoth fossils have been found near the park. The woolly mammoth fossil is the official fossil of Washington state. In 1996, catastrophic flooding occurred, laying down a million cubic feet of sediment in the park. Two additional major floods happened within the year. Periodic flooding is characteristic of riparian (river-related) terrain, and gives the park its distinctive character. The day-use-area restroom was constructed in 1934 from 10,000 stones acquired from the Touchet River. The day-use-area kitchen shelter was also built in the 1930s and exhibits features of that period. |
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