Hells Canyon overlook from Hat Point
— — the deepest cut in the country, gone quiet.
Not only on a wall.
“The lookout sits at the end of a long gravel climb out of Imnaha, on a rim that drops nearly a mile to the Snake River below. The canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon and almost nobody else is up there. The light turns copper around six in the evening and the wind drops with it. — from the studio
Hells Canyon overlook from Hat Point, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Hat Point rises to 6,982 feet at the southern end of Oregon's Wallowa Mountains, the highest road-accessible viewpoint into Hells Canyon. The Snake River runs about 5,400 feet below, and the Seven Devils on the Idaho side rise to nearly 8,000 feet above the river — making this gorge the deepest in North America. The lookout sits inside the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Access is by Forest Road 4240 out of the community of Imnaha, twenty-four miles of steep gravel that is typically open from late June through October.
Wind moves through the canyon on its own schedule. By midafternoon a hot updraft pulls off the rimrock; by evening it reverses and slides cold off the Seven Devils on the Idaho side. The air is dry enough that smoke from a wildfire eighty miles out will sit in the gorge for a week. Ravens ride the thermals past the lookout at eye level. From 6,982 feet the Snake reads as a thin green line, and you can hear nothing of it.
The road to Hat Point is Forest Road 4240, twenty-four miles of gravel climbing out of Imnaha. Most passenger cars make it in dry weather; the Forest Service recommends high clearance. The season runs roughly late June through October — snow closes the road early and reopens it late. There is a small campground, a vault toilet, and the lookout tower itself, with a railed observation deck open to the public. No fee. No cell service. Bring water and a full tank from Joseph or Enterprise.