Today we visited the close by Niagara Springs Unit and Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon Springs Unit of Thousand Springs State Park.
From the description and pictures I had seen, I didn’t have high hopes for either of these places but both turned to be quite beautiful and definitely worth the visit.
Thousand Springs State Park have several sites located along the north wall of the Snake River Canyon west of Twin Falls. Because of the layered nature of the volcanic rock the melt water from the mountains to the north seeps down and follows the cracks to the canyon edge, leading to the thousand springs. They are not waterfalls as they do not result from rivers or creeks falling over the canyon edge. They emerge from the rock wall part way down.
First up was Niagara Springs.
I quickly sent the drone up for a high shot.
Just a short distance west, in the same park, is Crystal Springs. It sure lived up to its name as the water was amazingly clear.
Crystal Springs Lake was a little farther along, also very clear.
I think that is a pelican in the foreground.
The photosphere.
At the end of the road there was a large fish hatchery.
Moving on, we drove along the canyon wall.
And then up and out.
Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon Springs is a about a 1.5 mile long canyon with a spring emerging at the box end and eventually flowing into the Snake River. This is the Google Earth view.
The whole loop trails is about 4.3 miles. We just did the red out and back to the waterfall for about 1.2 miles. We asked some girls that had done the loop and they said the section in the canyon after the waterfall was pretty rough and the walk back on top was hot.
The spring emerges from the rock at the box end to fill two pools before turning into a raging creek.
The water is a beautiful clear green.
There was a bit too much wind blowing up the canyon wall for Jennie’s umbrella.
The photosphere.
I love that colour.
A photosphere from partway along the rim, before we headed down.
A shot of me (upper right) perched on the edge.
Looking towards the S curve in the canyon.
And down we go. The zig zags were steep and a bit rocky but easily doable.
Then the relatively flat walk to our target of a viewing platform at the waterfall, in the center of the picture below.
It was then lunch and picture time.
From the platform.
The photosphere.
And below the platform near the waters edge.
The photosphere.
We stared at the deep green clear water for a long time.
Time to head back.
One couple sat for a while at the top.
Before deciding that going down was a no.
A photosphere from the top as some other people head down.
Then back along the very hot top edge to the car and home.
On the way home we had to stop and get a picture of this long line of cows being fed. It seems to go on forever.
Another much better than expected day.
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