Orofino

About Orofino

Orofino oro-FEE-noh; ("fine gold" [ore] in Spanish) is a city in and the county seat of Clearwater County, Idaho, United States, along Orofino Creek and the north bank of the Clearwater River. It is the major city within the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. The population was 2,656 at the time of the 2020 census.

Nearby is the historical "Canoe Camp," where the Lewis and Clark expedition built five new dugout canoes and embarked on October 7, 1805, downstream to the Pacific Ocean. Some four miles (6 km) north is the Dworshak Dam, third-highest dam in the United States, completed in the early 1970s. Nearby is the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery, started to try to compensate for the loss of migratory fish upstream after the dam was constructed.

Originally the name was two words, Oro Fino, applied to a gold mining camp established in 1861 two miles (3 km) south of Pierce. When the United States government opened up the Nez Percé reservation to non-tribal settlers in 1895, thousands of European Americans rushed to lay claims to land. Clifford Fuller set up a trading post on his new homestead. The town (Orofino-on-the-Clearwater) was established the next year. The railroad, later part of the Camas Prairie Railroad, was constructed from Lewiston in 1899.

Orofino is home to state institutions: Idaho State Hospital North and the Idaho Correctional Institution–Orofino. These two facilities are located adjacent to Orofino High School, which includes the junior high or middle school grades, and whose mascot is the Maniac.

Orofino hosts an annual July 4 celebration, as well as the Clearwater County Fair and Lumberjack Days in late summer. Each spring, Boomershoot, an annual precision rifle event, is held nearby.

Text: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Orofino weather: 7-day forecast

Source: National Weather Service (NOAA).

Live webcams in Orofino

Webcams: Windy.com

Living in Orofino

Median household income

$53,438

Median home value

$223,400

Median rent

$949/mo

Median age

44.8

Map of Orofino

Tap any street on the map to see it in Street View below. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Orofino Street View

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Orofino, ID population

Orofino had 2,656 residents in the 2020 Census.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Census.

Orofino at a glance

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (Gazetteer, ZCTA), USGS GNIS, Wikidata.

Towns near Orofino

• Peck8.3 mi W
• Weippe16.7 mi SE
• Nezperce17.2 mi S
• Reubens17.8 mi SW
• Craigmont19.8 mi SW
• Kamiah20.8 mi SE
• Elk River20.9 mi N
• Culdesac21.3 mi W
• Kendrick21.4 mi NW
• Pierce21.4 mi E
• Juliaetta22.5 mi W
• Ferdinand23.9 mi S

Straight-line distance between town centers.

Frequently asked questions about Orofino