On The Rough Roads in Idaho! What REALLY Happened!

Posted by Jess-

This week’s episode finds the Traveling with Terriers family visiting the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Ritter Island and Lemon Falls, Niagra Springs, Cloverleaf Creamery and Shoshone Falls all near Hagerman, ID. If you are a fan of waterfalls, this is the episode for you! We also hit a few rough spots in the road when we found out that some of the beauty we saw wasn’t as it appeared to be.

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

Our first stop of the morning was to the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. This was a very informative stop where we learned about the Hagerman horse, which roamed the area during the Pliocene era. The first fossils were discovered in 1928 and the archeological digs have been ongoing in the area ever since. While the visitor’s center was wonderful, two wonderful ladies made it extra special. They gave us great suggestions for places to visit, food, and even helped plan our route through the backroads! We didn’t get their names, but we truly appreciate their knowledge. If you are in the area, we highly recommend a stop in at this visitors center!

Rough Road #1- Ritter Island and Lemon Falls

Doesn’t that waterfall just look gorgeous? Well, here is where our adventures in the Hagerman area hit a rough spot in the road. A picture of these falls was what sparked our conversation with the ladies in the Visitor’s Center. They said we could walk right up to the base of this waterfall, which you can. After explaining how the waterfalls at Thousand Springs State Park come from deep artesian springs that produce really fresh water, they gave us exact instructions for how to get to said waterfalls. We followed those directions, and they took us down some pretty steep one lane roads, which we loved.

However, in true Traveling with Terriers fashion, we ended up getting something wrong. The spring fed waterfall is found ON Ritter Island. Lemon Falls, pictured above, are NEXT to Ritter Island. Apparently, they flow downstream from a fish hatchery. It is a very clean, well maintained fish hatchery , but a fish hatchery all the same.

Danny, thinking these were the spring fed falls, dipped the boys’ feet in them to cool them off a bit. So, when we found out that this was not in fact a spring fed waterfall, we were pretty concerned that our boys were going to get sick. Thankfully, some friends who grew up in the area eased our concerns. They explained that even though it is fed by the fish hatchery the water is very clean. Thankfully, the boys proved them right and were fine, and no one suffered any ill effects from our adventure. We even got some great family pictures from it!

Rough Road #2- Niagra Springs

After Lemon Falls, we continued on our search for the waterfalls of Thousand Springs State Park. Next on our list was Niagara Springs. It is supposed to have glacial blue water courtesy of the artesian spring that it comes from. The drive to Niagara Springs was another one lane, steep dirt road. Once we got down the road, Niagara Springs was a bit harder to find. No one seemed to be able to tell us exactly where it was. We did finally find it- it is a spring coming out of the side of a mountain. While the water was blue, it definitely was not the deep glacial blue that we saw on other waterfalls that we saw later in the summer (more on THAT to come!). It was a lovely drive, though and the park was a nice place to stop and let the boys out.

Taking a break from Rough Roads- Cloverleaf Creamery

After finding all those waterfalls, we decided to stop for a snack. The Cloverleaf Creamery in nearby Buhl, ID makes their ice cream fresh daily using milk from local dairy’s. It certainly hit the spot! The ice cream was wonderful, they had a nice variety of flavors and the whole store smelled heavenly! We definitely recommend a stop here if you are in the area!

Shoshone Falls

Our last stop of the day was at Shoshone Falls outside of Twin Falls, ID. When we were researching for this trip, Shoshone Falls was one of the “must see” destinations on our list. Billed as the “Niagara Falls of the West” we were supposed to see this amazing waterfall and feel the mist of the falls as you watched them. It was here that we hit another of those rough spots in the road. When we were there Shoshone Falls, which has been dammed to help support local agriculture, was only running at about 30% of its flow. While still beautiful, we were disappointed that it was not the giant falls that we were expecting.

On a brighter note, while visiting the falls, Tommy made a new friend who patiently listened while he aired all of his grievances about life as a member of the Traveling with Terriers family. We thank her for her patience as he barked incessantly while trying to tell her all about well, everything.

After Shoshone Falls, we headed back towards the campground to enjoy the rest of our evening. We decided that despite the rough spots in the road, it was a great day filled with lots of beautiful scenery. For more of adventures with Traveling with Terriers, please check out our other Travel-A-Long Adventures, Behind-the-Scenes Blogs, relaxing Drive-A-Longs, and our Top 5 Tips and Tricks. Just in time for the holidays, our brand new Merch Store is open! Visit it to find Traveling with Terriers apparel, swag, and our newly released book available now on Amazon! Until next time, happy traveling!