Shoshone Falls, Idaho

By Joe Berk

The question I found confusing when navigating my way to Twin Falls, Idaho, was this:  Is Shoshone Falls the “twin falls” referred to in Twin Falls, or is there another set of falls somewhere along the Snake River?  I never really had a satisfactory, definitive answer to that question (and I asked several people in Twin Falls).  It’s further complicated by the fact that upstream of Shoshone Falls (at the eastern edge of the town of Twin Falls), there’s another park called Twin Falls Park.  I think the answer is this:  There are other falls along the Snake River in the area of Twin Falls, but the Shoshone Falls are the two falls that give the city its name.  If you know different, please let me know.

I plugged Shoshone Falls into Waze, and the nav program took us east out of town through a bit of farm country and past a few housing developments.  The ride down to Shoshone Falls Park was an interesting one.  When we approached the entrance where you pay $5 to enter the park and I asked about handicapped parking (I had a bad motorcycle accident 15 years ago and my handicapped parking tag was that cloud’s silver lining).   The nice lady in the ticket booth told me my handicapped parking tag meant free admission.  The month I spent in the hospital had a return on investment.

The ride down to Shoshone Falls from the entrance demands attention.  It winds down a narrow lane alongside the mountain with a steep dropoff on one side (and there was no guardrail).  I realized it would be best to save the sightseeing until I got down there.

Once we arrived at the Shoshone Falls viewing area, we could see there are indeed two separate falls.  It’s very scenic.

I’ve read online that Shoshone Falls is the Niagara Falls of the West, and Shoshone Falls has more of a drop than does Niagara.  Shoshone Falls is a beautiful thing to see, but trust me on this, it’s not Niagara Falls.  I’ve been to Niagara Falls.  Shoshone Falls is nice, but there’s no comparing it to Niagara Falls.

I looked down the Snake River.  It was nice. It was scenic.  I was glad we made the trip to Idaho.   We were covering a lot of ground.  I was getting great photos.  Sue and I were on a content safari and Idaho was a target-rich environment.

While studying the map to get to Twin Falls’ Shoshone Falls, I noticed that a bit downstream of Shoshone Falls along the Snake River the map showed the Evel Knievel Snake River Canyon jump site.  There was no mention of it anywhere else.  I wondered:  Was it still there?

Stay tuned, folks.

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