Over the Memorial Day weekend, we drove to Twin Falls and visited several points of interest in the area. In Hagerman, we toured the new visitor center for Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and Thousand Springs State Park, then drove to the Snake River Overlook and the Oregon Trail Overlook (where the route of the Oregon National Historic Trail can be seen).
North of Shoshone, we explored Idaho's Mammoth Cave, which is an underground lava tube and currently the largest volcanic cave open to the public anywhere in the world. Miles and Elizabeth enjoyed watching the large muster of almost 50 Peacocks around the cave, and we learned the birds will kill and eat any rattlesnakes in their territory, keeping the cave grounds snake-free.
At Craters of the Moon National Monument, we hiked several trails including Devil's Orchard Nature Trail, Spatter Cones Trail, Snow Cone Trail, and North Crater Flow Trail. Everyone enjoyed the lava rock formations, wildflowers, overlooks, and we even had a picnic lunch in the park. Elizabeth also liked earning her Junior Ranger badges at each of the various national park sites.
In Twin Falls we hiked to (and behind) the Perrine Coulee Waterfall near the Snake River. We also visited Shoshone Falls Park, but unfortunately low water levels made the visit less impressive than our previous times enjoying this waterfall that is 45 feet taller than Niagara Falls.
Finally, before leaving Idaho, we spent a morning at City of Rocks National Reserve. The highlight of our time at the reserve was hiking the Creekside Towers Trail among the huge granite pinnacles, watching all the climbers ascending the rocks, the sounds of the creek, and the impressive wildflower display. Also in the park, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and completed the short walk to view Window Arch.
On a visit to Yellowstone National Park, we stopped to see the train display at Ross Park in Pocatello. Union Pacific steam engine #2005 and diesel 'Centennial' engine #6901 were both on display along with an Oregon Short Line caboose. Next, we drove the Fort Henry Historic Byway and stopped to see the St. Anthony Sand Dunes where Elizabeth bravely climbed right to the top of one of the dunes while Miles played in the sand. Also, along the byway, we stopped at the Camas Meadows battlefield site, which is one of the sites along the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail. Finally, we drove the short Mesa Falls Scenic Byway near Ashton to Mesa Falls in Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Everyone enjoyed hiking to the observation platforms to view the falls up close and see the rainbow that had formed in the mist. We hiked to the Upper Falls, then viewed the Lower Falls from the overlook.
Driving through Idaho on our way to Canada we stopped at the Camas National Wildlife Refuge near Hamer and hiked the Wildlife Viewing Trail. We drove through Idaho again on our return from Canada and stopped at Dedication Point in Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area near Boise. The overlook had a nice view of the snake river canyon, but we didn’t see any birds (only grasshoppers). We then visited the Malad Gorge Unit of Thousand Springs State Park where we all enjoyed hiking and seeing the river, gorge, waterfalls, and 'Devils Washbowl'. Spending a night in Twin Falls, we enjoyed some famous Idaho Potatoes from Jakers.
Over the Father’s Day weekend, we drove through part of Caribou-Targhee National Forest to Minnetonka Cave where Elizabeth toured her first cave and saw bats, underground waterfalls, and many various cave formations. We also stopped to view the scenic Blue Pond Spring. Near Paris, we drove through Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge where we saw many songbirds, osprey, ducks, and even an otter. Finally, in Montpelier we toured the Butch Cassidy Museum at the Bank of Montpelier, which is the only bank to have been robbed by Butch Cassidy and his gang that is still standing.
We spent a weekend chasing waterfalls in the Twin Falls area of southern Idaho. Stopping first at the visitor center, we walked across the Perrine Memorial Bridge over the Snake River. It was a cold and windy day, but we still got some great views of the valley below. Next, we drove to Shoshone Falls Park where we hiked the Centennial Trail to the Evel Knievel Jump Site (where Evel tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in a special 'skycycle' but his parachute opened too early, and he failed).
We chose to visit during the spring because there would be more water flowing over the various waterfalls, and Shoshone Falls did not disappoint. Shoshone Falls is called the 'Niagara of the West' and is 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls at 212 feet high. After observing the falls from several overlooks along the trail, we drove a short distance to the overlook of 'Twin Falls' where because of dam construction there is only one remaining waterfall from the original two.
West of town, we visited several units of Thousand Springs State Park. First, at the Niagara Springs Unit, we stopped to see the very impressive springs that come right out of the canyon wall. Next, at the Box Canyon Unit we were able to look down from high above to the springs in the canyon below. Finally, at the Ritter Island Unit we were the only visitors on a Saturday evening, and we had an enjoyable hike to Lemon Falls along the Snake River.
The next day we visited Perrine Coulee Falls, where we viewed the falls from above, below, and even behind. After viewing the falls, we drove east to Cauldron Linn near Murtaugh. We hiked along the river and viewed the falls where the mighty Snake River is forced into a passage only 40 feet wide. We also made a brief stop at Register Rock, which is part of Massacre Rocks State Park.
At the end of the month we visited southeastern Idaho where we drove through part of Caribou-Targhee National Forest and stopped at the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier.
On a weekend at the end of September we traveled to Idaho with Ben's sister and visited the Sunken Gardens in Lava Hot Springs. We also watched the eruption of the Soda Springs Geyser and saw some Oregon Trail ruts before taking a scenic drive south towards the Utah border.
In northern Idaho, we visited the Coeur d'Alene area where we saw the Treaty Rock in Post Falls and drove through part of Coeur d'Alene National Forest. We also visited western Idaho where we stopped at several sites of the Nez Perce National Historical Park including Spalding, the St. Joseph Mission, and the White Bird Battlefield. After spending a night in McCall, we had a great breakfast at the McCall Pancake House before driving the scenic Highway 55 along the Payette River to Boise.
Also in October, Benjamin and his father visited Craters of the Moon National Monument for some hiking. They also visited Idaho Falls.
In July, we drove around Bear Lake and through southeastern Idaho. We also visited Idaho over Labor Day weekend when we flew to Boise and drove west towards the Oregon border.
We took a weekend trip to Idaho Falls where we hiked the Hell's Half-Acre volcanic area. We also drove along part of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail near Spencer.
We drove to City of Rocks National Reserve where we participated in the Climbing Experience Program which gave us our first taste of rock climbing. After doing several climbs we did some hiking through the park, then camped overnight.
We spent a weekend in the Idaho Falls area of eastern Idaho. We attended a movie at the Grand Teton Theater and enjoyed a great meal at Jakers Bar and Grill. The next day we drove the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway to the upper and lower Mesa Falls on Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Targhee National Forest. After a stop at the Frostop Drive-In in Ashton, we drove to the Bechler region of Yellowstone National Park which has the lowest visitation and a wetter environment than the rest of the park.
We took a summer road trip north through Idaho. After spending a night in Blackfoot, we drove through Arco (the first city to be lit by atomic power) to Craters of the Moon National Monument where we hiked to the top of the Inferno Cone, hiked the Devil's Orchard Trail, hiked the North Crater Flow Trail, and drove the scenic loop road through the park.
We then drove north following along the Salmon River towards the Montana border. This route followed the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail and passed through part of Salmon-Challis National Forest.
We spent a weekend in Boise where we saw the Idaho State Capitol, drove through the campus of Boise State University, shopped at the Towne Square Mall, attended mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and attended a Nebraska Football watch party at Beef O' Brady's Restaurant.
We drove to the Twin Falls area in southern Idaho and visited Shoshone Falls Park on the Snake River, a Japanese internment camp site at Minidoka National Historical Site, and Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. We also saw some of the original Oregon National Historic Trail near Hagerman.