My wife, Katy, suggested that we ought to run over and see Shoshone Falls after church. It’s only a two-hour drive, so I thought it’d be a fun little road trip. Plans were made and I got up before church and packed water and snacks. We hit the early service and then took off.
My daughter, Kolby, and her boyfriend were going to accompany us, too, so it was going to be a fun day. We took off and then pulled over for lunch to break up the trip. For some reason, when I hit 80 mph, my Escape about rattled us out of the seats.
We finally figured out the problem. I’d been out shooting the other day and had gone through some bad mud. It’d been some gumbo type of mud caked on the back wheels. That made it like a bad mechanic had put 2-pound weights in all the wrong spots while balancing the wheels.
I got a screwdriver and chipped it off and am now ready to roll.
But back to the falls. Everyone has been talking lately about how cool the falls are because of the high run-off, so the place was packed. Wow, really packed.
When we turned off on 3300 E. Road, cars were backed up bumper-to-bumper and crawling like a snail. About 1/4 of the way down, I pulled off onto the shoulder and we hiked in the last mile or so.
It was a nice hike down and I needed some exercise. Wow, the falls were better than I figured they’d be.
From what I read, the falls are at 18,000 cubic-feet-per-second as compared to 250 cfs this time last year, so this is the year to go.
They say Shoshone is 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls. My neighbor is from the Canadian side of Niagara and claims that Niagara Falls is better, but I think she may just be a hater and a little prejudiced!
As you can imagine, this was as far as salmon could migrate in the old days and a lot of Indians gathered there to spear them. That would have been cool to have seen, wouldn’t it?
So if you want to take a road trip, you ought to check out Shoshone Falls. If you do decide to go, circle by Malad Gorge as well.
Directions
1. At Twin Falls take exit 73 and head south.2. After a few miles turn left on Falls Avenue. Go a few miles.3. Turn left on 3300 E. Road and head north until you reach the dead end at the falls.
Necessary Gear
- I always pack enough water for all of us.
- Fruit, such as bananas, tangerines, etc.
- Candy bars for energy.
- Flashlight if you’re staying late.
- Raincoat or poncho.
Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.
