Shoshone Falls

Shoshone Falls, is a majestic and powerful waterfall on the Snake River. Often referred to as the “Niagara of the West,” it’s one of the largest natural waterfalls in the United States, with a height of 212 feet making it taller than Niagara Falls! The falls are especially impressive in the spring when the snow melt from the mountains creates a dramatic flow, but they are beautiful year-round. Unfortunately, due to drought, the water flow was very low when we visited. The falls have a wide, multi-tiered drop, creating a stunning visual display as the water crashes down into the canyon below. There’s a scenic overlook at Shoshone Falls Park, which provides spectacular views of the falls and the Snake River Canyon. Shoshone Falls is a must-see destination offering one of the most stunning natural landscapes in Idaho.

Dierkes Lake

Dierkes Lake is a beautiful, serene spot located near Twin Falls. It’s a popular recreational area known for its clear water, scenic surroundings, and various outdoor activities. The lake is part of Dierkes Lake Park, which offers visitors opportunities for swimming, picnicking, hiking, and fishing. The lake is stocked with fish, making it a great spot for anglers, and the surrounding area is perfect for leisurely strolls or more energetic hikes. One of the most notable features of Dierkes Lake is its cliff diving spot on the northern side of the lake, where visitors can jump from cliffs into the deep, cool waters. The lake is also home to a small beach area, making it an excellent place to relax and enjoy a sunny day.

Evel Knievel Snake River Canyon Jump Site

On September 8, 1974, legendary stuntman Evel Knievel attempted one of his most daring feats when he tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered motorcycle, aiming to land on the opposite side of the canyon. Although the jump didn’t go as planned—his rocket-powered bike malfunctioned mid-flight, and he parachuted safely to the ground—the attempt remains a defining moment in his career and a legendary part of stunt history. Today, the jump site is marked with a monument and viewing area where visitors can learn about Knievel’s ambitious attempt. The site offers stunning views of the Snake River Canyon, and nearby, you’ll find a plaque and interpretive signage detailing the jump and its significance. The Evel Knievel Jump Site has become a popular spot for fans of the stuntman, as well as those interested in the history of extreme sports.

Minidoka National Historic Site

Minidoka National Historic Site is a significant historical location not far from Twin Falls, that preserves the legacy of one of the internment camps used during World War II. Between 1942 and 1945, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated and incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center as part of the U.S. government’s response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Over 9,000 Japanese Americans were held at the camp, which was one of ten across the country. The site serves as a reminder of this dark chapter in American history and is a place for reflection on the impacts of prejudice, injustice, and the resilience of those who were incarcerated. Visitors can explore the camp through interpretive signs, a Visitor Center (unfortunatly this was closed the day we visited), and walking tours, which highlight the camp’s history and the stories of those who lived there. The site also includes a memorial and plaques honoring the detainees and their experiences.

Park Review – Twin Falls 93 RV Park

Rating: 
Location: Filer, ID
Type: Commercial Park
Check-in/Check-out times: 1:00/11:00
Site Quality / Amenities: The roads and pads are gravel. There are 48 full hookup sites and 20 sites with water and electric only but there is an on site dump station. They claim the sites are 80′ long but I think that is a bit exaggerated. Ours was probably about 65′ long. All sites have both 30 and 50 amp electrical service. There are two large dog park areas as well as restrooms and a laundry room.
Access: From US-93 south of Twin Falls turn left on Jorden Ln. and then left again on N 2400 E and the entrance to the park will be immediately on the right.
Staff: No one was in the office when we arrived so we never had any contact with staff. We picked up our prepaid packet at the office and went straight to our site.
Cellular/WiFi: They have WiFi in the park and even claim that you can stream from it on 1 device although we didn’t use it. I had 3-4 bars of 5G on Verizon and was able to get speeds of 390 Mbps upload and 34 Mbps download. There are a minimal amount of trees in the park so Starlink was unobstructed.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks nearby.
What we liked: In spite of being along a US highway the park was very quiet. Good stop for our route south east after visiting Washington and Oregon. There were actually more things to see in this area than we realized. For a city of about 60,000 people, Twin Falls was actually very nice with good looking homes, lots of stores and a large medical facility.
What we didn’t like: No real amenities here like fire rings, pools, etc.
Verdict: This is a nice stop for a few days and we’d stay again.

Much like Spearfish, South Dakota, Couer d’Alene is a college town with a lot of outdoor activities. Although traffic here is becoming an issue due to an influx of new residents post COVID, I think this is likely our new favorite northern city bumping Spearfish to a close second.

Park Review – Blackwell Island RV Resort

Rating: 
Location: Couer d’Alene, ID
Type: Commercial Park
Check-in/Check-out times: 1:00/11:00
Site Quality / Amenities: The roads are asphalt and the pads are gravel. Each site has a picnic table.
Access: From I-90 take exit 12 in Couer d’Alene to US-95 south. After crossing the Spokane River take S Marina Dr. left to the park.
Staff: At check-in we were provided with a lot of good local information to help us find our way around.
Restaurants: We didn’t end up eating out while we were here.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks nearby.
What we liked: We found it easy to relax here. There were a lot of families staying here and it was obvious many of them come frequently. If we had to do it again, we’d probably stay more toward the other side of the park closer to the water.
What we didn’t like: Sites were a bit short for bigger rigs but we had an overflow parking area right in front of our site where we could park the truck.
Verdict: We would stay here again if in the area.

Rating: 1/2
Location: Caldwell, ID
Type: Commercial Park
Check-in/Check-out times: 1:00/11:00
Site Quality / Amenities: Roads are asphalt and sites are gravel. Unlike many parks the gravel pads are very well maintained. There is a concrete patio the whole length of each site and each site has a picnic table. Most sites have a very nice grass strip between it and the adjacent site(s). There are two shower/restroom buildings with private rooms that others report are very clean although we didn’t use them. There is also a rec room, an exercise room, and a playground and two BBQ areas plus a couple of dog walk areas and a dog park. Finally, there is a pool, a kids pool and a hot tub.
Access: From I-84 take exit 29 and go east on US-20/US-26 to Smeed Parkway. Go north on Smeed Parkway and the park is on the right about 500′.
Staff: Check-in was easy and the staff were fast and efficient.
Cellular/WiFi: WiFi was available but we didn’t use it. Verizon 5GLte was great at 180Mbps download and 33Mbps upload. Starlink was unobstructed although there are some smaller trees around the park.
Restaurants: Casa Mexico – Very good Mexican food in Hyde Park a historic part of Boise, ID. Goody’s Soda Fountain – Excellent Ice Cream and other treats also in Hyde Park.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks nearby.
What we liked: I think most of the park is occupied by long term residents but the sites are kept clean and uncluttered. Many people have decks, storage buildings and small landscaped areas. Each short term site is 85′ long and 30′ wide, enough to park a truck or toad beside the RV with full hookups and 50/30/20 Amp service. Long term pull-thru sites are 85′ x 35′ and back-ins are 60′ x 45′. No tents are allowed.
What we didn’t like: There was construction on US-20/US-26 which caused some traffic issues as well as night time noise but overall it wasn’t too bad. It looks like that will be completed around October 2024.
Verdict: We definitely would stay here again if travelling through and this could even be a good place for a long term summer site for several months except for us it’s a bit far from our “home base”.

Unfortunately, with the exception of one or two days, smoke from wildfires in California blanketed the mountains and the views were not as spectacular as we had hoped they would be. In some cases we just had to imagine how beautiful the mountains would be on a nice clear blue day. In a few cases, the pictures took on a surreal look aided by the smoke.

Teton County, Idaho is huge and so gorgeous with the Teton River weaving through it like a ribbon. The county has massive farms growing crops of potatoes and wheat. It was so impressive to see the patchwork of fields stretching as far as you could see. We saw the large potato sorting sheds and equipment but we were not there during the potato harvesting season which would surely be something to see.

Grand Teton National Park

Of course, if you are in this area the Grand Teton National Park is the major attraction. The park includes about 242 miles of trails, 152 miles of paved roads and 65 miles of unpaved roads. The Teton Range is an active fault-block mountain range, 40 miles long and 7-9 miles wide. The highest peak in the range is Grand Teton at an elevation of 13,775 feet. Eight peaks in the range are over 12,000 feet in elevation. Jackson Hole is the mountain valley on the east side of the Teton range and is 55 miles long and 13 miles wide with an average elevation of 6,800 feet. The Snake River flows through the park and there are numerous lakes and ponds within the park boundaries.

Alaska Basin Trail

The Alaska Basin Trail is a hiking trail in Grand Teton National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming just east of Driggs Idaho. We spent a gorgeous day hiking about 1.5 miles of the 7.5 mile trail enjoying the sites along the way. Teton Creek flows through the area and provides some wonderful scenery to photograph.

Jackson

Jackson is a small town on the southern end of the Grand Teton National Park that bustles with tourist traffic both in summer and winter months. We walked around the town square area a couple of times and looked through a few of the shops and ate at a couple of good restaurants. The area is quite busy and congested so we didn’t spend a lot of time there but that environment appeals to a lot of people.

One of the major attractions are the four elk antler arches in each corner of the town square. Jackson Hole is home to the National Elk Refuge, a protected sanctuary where hundreds of elk shelter during the winter months. Every spring, elk will naturally shed their antlers, and it is a local tradition for Jackson Hole’s Boy Scout troops to harvest shed antlers from the National Elk Refuge each season. In May,  the community celebrates ElkFest, a multi-day festival with vendors, music, and food. During ElkFest the harvested antlers are auctioned off to bidders from around the world with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the National Elk Refuge. Each arch is supported by a steel framework and constructed by hand using 14,000 pounds or more than 2,000 antlers each obtained from the annual harvests. The arches are held together mostly by friction and gravity and need to be rebuilt about every 50 years.

Tetonia / Driggs Area

Tetonia and Driggs are on the west side of the Teton mountains and on the other side of the mountain range from the national park but some say that the views of the mountains are better from this side. Maybe that’s just an argument between Idaho and Wyoming but at least for us we did see the mountains better from the west side if for no other reason than the smoke was a bit lighter most days. We enjoyed taking in some of the sights in the local area as well as the final Driggs Rodeo for the season complete with great mountain views, the Teton Valley Historical Museum and a visit to the small Grand Teton Distillery where craft made Vodka and Whisky are distilled and bottled. Driggs is the best place in the area to find activities like farmers markets and craft sales as well as numerous restaurants and stores.

Big Eddy

Big Eddy also known as Rainey Bridge is a free campground west of Driggs. There are 16-29 dry (no hookup) campsites at this location and all sizes of RV’s can use it for stays up to 10 days.

Park Review – Teton Peaks Lodge and RV Park

Rating: 1/2
Site Quality: Picnic tables at each site, gravel pads.
Type: Commercial
Access: Easy access off Idaho highway 33 south of Tetonia.
Staff: At check-in they had a touchless process due to COVID where you just went straight to your site. That worked well but is a bit impersonal. We did meet two of the family members who run the park and both were extremely nice and made sure they were there if we needed anything.
Amenities: Game room, laundry, restrooms and showers.
Cellular/Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is available in the park although we didn’t use it. AT&T and Verizon were somewhat marginal. Both worked but were prone to being slow or to having intermittent outages.
Restaurants: Badger Creek Cafe – This is the only restaurant in Tetonia, it was OK but nothing special. Good for a local bite. Agave – This is one of the Mexican restaurants in Driggs that we tried. It wasn’t Tex-Mex like we’re used to but the fajitas were actually pretty good. West Side Yard – Further down south in Victor, this restaurant offers bar style food that was really good. Liberty Burger – In Jackson serves up great burgers. The Merry Piglets Mexican Grill – Also in Jackson serves up Tex-Mex plates that were also very good and some of the best Tex-Mex we’ve had since leaving Texas.
Nearby parks: Teton Valley Resort, Victor – Was supposed to be much better than where we stayed but we found they had added numerous cabins and removed RV sites. It appears they may be building more. Could be an option in the future if it improves but for not it looks very tight and no nicer than Teton Peaks.
What we liked: View of the Tetons from the park.
What we didn’t like: Many people used the area between our site and the adjacent site as a pathway to the game room, laundry, etc. It’s actually part of our sites, not a pathway. Our site also needed some landscape trimming but others were OK. Quite expensive for what we got. The park is also quite a distance from the Grand Teton National Park but short of staying in the park, most likely with no hookups, there are few options for larger rigs.
Verdict: Good place for a week or so unless there are better places further south in Driggs or Victor.