In August/September of 2022, Teddy and I did a 13 day road trip through Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming. We flew both in and out of Boise, allowing us to explore Idaho at the beginning and end of our trip. Below are our recommendations of some things to do in the southern part of the state.
#1 – Craters of the Moon National Monument
Craters of the Moon is located in the south central area of the state. It’s about 90 minutes northwest of Pocatello and 3 hours east of Boise. The park has a scenic drive which you can drive to explore the different areas of the park. There’s a hiking trails in the park that range in lengths and difficulty. In addition to a scenic drive and hiking, there’s also caves you can explore in the area. You just need to get it from the visitor center prior to exploring. We spent about 2 or so hours in the park exploring and doing some short hikes. If you pick any of the longer hiking trails or do a lot of the cave exploration, you could spend a full day or more there.
#2 – Box Canyon State Park
Box Canyon is located southeast of Boise about 90 minutes. It’s not too far off Route 84. You pay an entrance fee at the front gate and then drive back the road to a parking area right above the canyon. You can hike down into the canyon and see both a waterfall as well as blue pools where you can swim.
#3 – 2nd South Market
2nd South Market was an unexpected surprise when we visited Twin Falls. It’s a historic building that was used for machinery building in the past. Now it has vendors located inside that serve pizza, ice cream, coffee, sushi, Asian fusion, bbq, and beer. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating. We found this to be a great spot for a budget friendly meal for the two of us. We split a pizza and got ice cream for dinner and loved it.
#4 – Perrine Coulee Falls
This was one of the highlights of our time in south Idaho. It’s located in Twin Falls which also is home to the Perrine Bridge and Shoshone Falls (mentioned below).To get to this waterfall, you park alongside the side of the road and take a path down to the falls. What’s unique about this one is the path goes entirely behind the falls! It is beautiful, especially in the early morning or later evening when the sun isn’t directly on it.
#5 – Shoshone Falls
When we visited Shohone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho, there wasn’t as much water coming over the falls as we’d seen from other photos and videos. Of all the spots on the list, if you have to skip one, I’d recommend this one. While it’s a pretty view, to pay just to see a hydroelectric plant is not worth it in our opinion.
#6 – Perrine Bridge
This is the bridge you will likely drive in if you come from Boise to Twin Falls. When you drive over it, it doesn’t seem that high or long, but when you get to see it from further back, it’s very impressive. It reminded us of the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. While there, we were able to see people base jumping off the bridge which was wild to watch.
Other Spots
Areas we didn’t get to check out but would have if we had more time include Ritter Island State Park, Malad Gorge State Park, and kayaking in Blue Heart Spring.
