The crossing is older than the reservoir it now runs on. In 1898 a ferry began working the Columbia River between Gifford, in Stevens County, and Inchelium, on the Colville Reservation in Ferry County. Two years earlier Congress had opened the reservation to mineral claims by non-Indians, and traffic heading across from the direction of Colville grew with it.
Then the river disappeared. In 1939 and 1940 the water rising behind Grand Coulee Dam flooded both Inchelium and Gifford. Inchelium was rebuilt some miles off, above the new waterline, and the landings were shifted to suit the new shore. It stayed a private business until 1974, when it shut down for lack of profit and left the crossing empty.
What replaced it is a federal ferry with tribal crews. The Bureau of Indian Affairs paid for a purpose-built boat, the Colville Tribes took over its operation in 1994, and today the crossing runs free from 6:30 in the morning, every half hour, as long as Lake Roosevelt stays above 1,229 feet.
Half-hourly, with Gifford fifteen minutes behind Inchelium
Winter hours, October 1 to March 30, as published by the Colville Tribes and read on October 13, 2026; identical on the tribes' page as archived on July 21, 2026. Summer hours return on April 1. Colville Tribes — Transit & Inchelium Ferry · 2026-10-13
A free crossing paid for out of reservation road money
Nobody sells tickets on either bank. The National Park Service's guide to Lake Roosevelt groups the Gifford boat with the state's Keller Ferry under a single heading, as the two free ferries on the lake, and the Federal Highway Administration describes the Colville operation as a free ferry too. The money comes from elsewhere: the FHWA profile counts about $530,000 a year of the reservation's road maintenance funds for the ferry at Inchelium.
| Car, pickup or truck | Free |
| Foot passenger | Free |
Free, according to the National Park Service's Lake Roosevelt brochure and the Federal Highway Administration's Colville transportation profile, read October 13, 2026 National Park Service — Lake Roosevelt NRA park brochure: "Ride a Free Ferry" · 2026-10-13
A park campground on the east bank, a reservation road on the west
The two landings face each other across a narrow stretch of reservoir. Gifford sits on a state highway, Inchelium on tribal land, and AA Encampment, a campground not run by the park service, lies directly south of the crossing.
Gifford ferry landing
The east landing is a turn-off from State Route 25, the highway that follows the lake's eastern shore. The National Park Service runs its Gifford campground, group site and boat launch next to the landing, which makes this the side with water, toilets and somewhere to wait.
Boats leave Gifford at a quarter past and a quarter to each hour. During the winter months the final departure is the 8:45 p.m.
Inchelium ferry landing
The west landing serves Inchelium, the reservation community rebuilt on higher ground after the reservoir drowned the old town in 1939 and 1940. From the landing, reservation roads lead west to Bridge Creek Road and over to State Route 21.
The first boat of the day leaves this side at 6:30 a.m., and after that the ferry departs on the hour and the half hour.
Mid-lake, where the Colville Reservation meets Stevens County
This is the middle of Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir that Grand Coulee Dam backs up along the old course of the Columbia. The National Park Service describes the Gifford crossing as a mid-lake ferry and suggests a backroads loop built around it: State Route 25 on the east shore, the boat across, and State Route 21 back through the Colville Reservation, the same highway the state's free Keller boat serves further south.
Lake levels, spring break and who to call
- Watch the reservoir in spring
Below 1,229 feet the ferry stops. The lake is drawn down hardest in early spring: the lowest daily reading at Grand Coulee Dam in the past year was 1,251.2 feet on April 1, 2026, still above the cutoff.
- Where to see the level
Reclamation's daily figures for Grand Coulee were 1,285.3 feet on October 11, 2026, close to the 1,290-foot full pool. The tribes' threshold applies to the lake at the ferry, so treat the dam reading as a guide.
- One week off in April
The annual maintenance week coincides with spring break. The dates are not posted far ahead; ring the program before driving out in April.
- Program manager
The Inchelium Ferry/Transit Program Manager answers on 509-722-7083 or 509-935-0822.
- If the ferry is down
When the private ferry folded in 1974, people faced a 30-mile drive to the Keller Ferry to cross the lake. Plan for a long detour.
- Tribal transit on the west side
The same tribal program runs shuttles from Inchelium to Nespelem and Colville; the schedules are posted as PDFs on the ferry page.
Drowned towns, a bankrupt ferry and a boat on wheels
The years after 1974 were improvised. Tribal leaders and the BIA went to Congress looking for funds to put a permanent boat back on the crossing; meanwhile the BIA put a tug and barge on the crossing to carry cars. The answer came in 1981: the Columbian Princess, built by Fisherman's Boat Shop in Everett on a $1.7 million BIA contract. Getting a 120-foot hull from Puget Sound to a reservoir in the dry interior was the hard part. The boat was towed out through Juan de Fuca Strait, up the Columbia through five sets of locks to Pasco, and then trucked 108 miles overland to Lincoln, in a convoy 42 feet wide that crawled across highway bridges and culverts through ripening wheat.
For years a family held the BIA contract to run her, until the tribe took the operation over in 1994. A dock rebuilding project costing $1.6 million, partly paid for from federal ferry boat discretionary funds, was completed in 2002, and at one point the tribe proposed replacing the boat with a bridge across the lake, estimated at $44 million. Downstream, the Keller Ferry carries State Route 21 over the same reservoir under Washington State ownership, and like this one it is free and at the mercy of the lake level. Much further down the same river, near its mouth, the Wahkiakum County ferry is a third arrangement again: a county boat with state money behind it.
The boat that came overland through the wheat fields
Questions from drivers bound for the Inchelium landing
What do drivers pay on the Gifford ferry?
Nothing. Park Service literature groups it with Keller as Lake Roosevelt's two free ferries, and a federal highway profile of the Colville reservation says the same of the tribes' boat.
Until what time does the boat leave Gifford?
In the winter hours, October 1 to March 30, the last run leaves Gifford at 8:45 p.m. From April 1 to September 30 it is 9:45 p.m. Service starts at 6:30 a.m. from Inchelium in every season.
Is there a timetable, or does the boat just shuttle back and forth?
It runs to a clock. Inchelium departures fall at :00 and :30, Gifford ones at :15 and :45, so the longest wait on either bank is half an hour.
Why would the Inchelium ferry be closed?
For two published reasons: a maintenance week in April, timed with spring break, and any period when Lake Roosevelt is below 1,229 feet above sea level. Service resumes when the water rises again.
Is the ferry running right now in October?
The lake is high. Reclamation's daily reading at Grand Coulee Dam was 1,285.3 feet on October 11, 2026, more than 50 feet above the closure threshold, and the tribes' page showed no closure notice on October 13.
Who runs the ferry, the state or the tribes?
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, through their transit and ferry program, under a self-determination contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. WSDOT, which runs the Keller Ferry, has no role here.
When did the Inchelium crossing begin?
Since 1898. It was private until 1974, run with a BIA tug and barge for a time after that, given a new boat in 1981 and operated by the tribe since 1994.