This now 18 hole course is in a well mowed section of Hell's Gate State Park just south of Lewiston along the Snake River. I played in the Tri-Cities, WA for alot of years and this felt like coming home with the Russian Olives, sage brush, and river right by the course.
The course starts from a parking area quite a ways into the park but there is a big sign with course info and a practice basket in the shade, important during hot summer months. Hole 1 is down the path to the right of the practice basket and plays in the field toward the entrance to the park.
The course itself is well laid out in a field with a few clusters of trees, the river along one side, and a narrow ridge along the far end. Most of the front 9 is fairly straight forward, with 2 and 3 playing close to the river. Fortunately, there is a fairly solid line of willows along the river that save me from swimming for my driver on 3.
4 is a deceptive hole, it is fairly short at 158' but the pin is on top of a narrow 10' tall ridge that is easy to overshoot and wind up with the exact same long putt.
The course is fairly easy to follow, altho the map is handy as there are a couple of blind throws. The back 9 plays to the same pins in a varied order that criss-crosses the course and makes for some tough throws through the trees. Once you pick it up it is easy to follow. There are white signs telling which pin to throw to.
One of the big improvements is the course is well mowed. There is no sign of the disc eating weeds discussed in previous reviews. I was afraid they would be bad, thought I would only play a few holes but it is well maintained and I enjoyed all 18 holes.

There were only 2 Main Cons for me. The tee boxes are gravel and some are hard to throw from. I've seen worse but have definitely seen better. That and there aren't proper tee boxes for the back 9, I hope those will be part of the continued improvements.
The other is that the back 9 make most of the holes crossing. I understand it's necessary due to they space and it is well done but I have a huge distrust of crossing holes. This doesn't seem to be a very busy course so it isn't as hazardous as it might be.
Sorry, 3. since the back 9 are put in after, there are a couple holes that don't have much of a fairway through the trees. Tough shots but still possible for par.

Overall I liked this course and was glad I played it. It makes a very nice contrast to the park course across town. There is swimming, camping and a museum in the park, plenty to do as well as play. Not a destination course but well worth hitting on the way through.

• Has a practice basket.
• Maps are available at the Lewis and Clark Discovery Center (or you can print one from the "Links/Files" tab on this site). Navigation was easy.
• Holes 5, 6, 7, and 9 require a carefully placed tee shot to line up your putt/approach.
• Several baskets are well guarded by trees and bushes making for challenging approaches

• Tee pads are deep loose gravel with poor footing (I teed beside the pad on many holes to stay out of this).
• No alternate tees or pins.
• Grounds were mowed, but not watered or otherwise maintained. The cheat grass was quite thick and annoying and the ground was dry and dusty. (grounds were much better in December, see "Other Thoughts")
• Only 2 holes were >300'

Summary:
This course is not as nice Sunset Park across town. However, it does have some interesting holes. It would be much nicer if it was watered on regular basis. The Snake River does come into play on holes 1 and 2. If you throw a bad drive (RHBH) that fades out to soon, you might hit the river on either hole (especially on #2). I had to stop twice to pick cheat grass out of my socks in July. I really hate cheat grass so this was a big negative for me. If the park staff could be convinced to mow the fairways a little shorter it would help a bunch.( I went back in December and it was much nicer. The weeds and cheatgrass were gone and I enjoyed the course much more. I bumped my rating up 1 notch.)

Good variety of shots. Inside a state park so it's pretty well maintained. Fairly easy so it'd be good to learn on.

Gravel pads can be iffy. First time there, spiderwebs completely surrounding the area where basket 1 sits so that was kind of gross. A few holes go right along the river so a bad throw can end up with you getting wet. Several crossing fairways. Practice putting basket.

They have plenty of room here to make it a full 18 hole course. Hopefully there will be enough interest to make that happen.