Shoshone Falls
Shoshone Falls is also known as “Niagara of the West.” It is 212 feet (64.62 m) tall and 1,000 feet (304.8 m) wide. This makes the falls 45 feet (13.72 m) taller than Niagara. It is located just a few miles from Twin Falls. It is a state park, which means there is a $5/vehicle entrance fee to enter the park. If you have the State Park Pass, you can enter for free. You can still see the falls from a distance if you go to the rim viewing area, but I’ve never been to that location, so I can’t speak to the view.
The hike is pretty simple. You start at the main parking lot and go to the main observation point. From here you’ll follow the trail along the rim. You’ll have to scale the hillside at one point, but if you desire a simpler hike, you can follow the roadway. It actually takes more time and distance, but is a slower incline of the duration.
Challenges:
The trail is quite steep and can be slippery when very dry or when wet.
There are also several trails that lead up to the main roadway and secondary overlook, they all lead to the roadway, but some are even more difficult than others.
The main road can also be followed, which is an easier climb to the secondary overlook. Highly recommended if you have any concerns about the more difficult trail.
The main overlook will give you the closest look of the falls. The best times to view the falls is late Spring and early Summer. The image to the left was only a fraction of falls. The rest of the area had very little or no water flowing over it yet. The views are still quite wonderful no matter the flow or time of year, and each season can provide a different experience.
For the highest flow though, the end of April, May, and June are the best months. You can usually check the live feed to see if the flow is what you would like to see.
After the second overlook, you can continue to follow the road up, and you will get a view of another smaller waterfall. This waterfall is seasonal and may not be visible in Summer, Fall, and Winter. You still get excellent views of the canyon from here. A great location for some additional pictures.
You can continue your journey farther up the road with cuts back towards Shoshone Falls, but it continues to climb toward the canyon rim. I am unsure where this road leads, so if you continue along it, you will be going on an adventure.
Going back down the roadway, you might look at the time of day. With certain angles of daylight and depending on the current flow, wind, and mist rising from Shoshone Falls, you may be able to witness the appearance of a rainbow or maybe even two appear in the mist of the falls.
Back at the parking lot you can take in Shoshone Falls one more time, have a picnic in the park area, or go on to visit the Dierkes Lake Park and Dierkes Lake. There are picnic areas, trails/walking paths, and fishing at Dierkes Lake.
