Dierkes Lake at Shoshone Falls Park in Twin Falls, Idaho

We started off Spring Break with a visit to Twin Falls, Idaho. While there, we took a day to go rock hounding about and hour past Twin at Rabbit Springs, near the Nevada border {in fact, we overshot Rabbit Springs, and landed in Jackpot, NV, before turning around and finding the right spot}. After a few minutes of searching the frozen landscape, we hit the thunderegg jackpot. We were overexcited, and gathered far more than we were ultimately able to haul home with us. It's a great place to go, if you're ever in the area.

We headed back, filled up with lunch, then piled back into the car to go for a hike. We started at 212 ft. Shoshone Falls, which was just a trickle in comparison to the magnitude of roaring water flowing over last time we were there. From the same parking lot, there is about a 3 mile round trip hike up to the spot where Evel Knievil tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in 1974 {video here, if you're interested; skip to 2:25 to see the actual launch}. Due to the cold and even colder high winds, we opted for the shorter 1.6 mile hike around Dierkes Lake, which starts and ends at the parking lot less than 1/4 of a mile further down the road.

The hike is quite different than anything you'll get in Oregon's Willamette Valley. This area is a dry desert with very little in the way of shrubs or trees, but plentiful in rocks, cliffs, and large boulders for kids to climb. As much as I prefer our greenery, it was nice to experience something different. It was short, easy, and out in the open, allowing for the kids to often wander off the trail to climb a boulder or two, then rush back to the trail to catch up to us. There are several points at which you're able to walk right up to the top of cliffs and take in the view. This was great for us, as well as our kids who were old enough to listen and stay back far enough from the edge. Any smaller children would need an adult close at hand at all times on this hike. The hike never becomes too strenuous. Despite your constant elevation change, it remains fairly easy, because of the stairs built into the landscape anytime you face an uphill climb.

In addition to the rocky landscape, you're also likely to spot a rock chuck or two... or ten. I did this same loop last year and only spotted a couple. This time was going to be about the same, until we neared the end of the trail, and several were suddenly swarming across our path. They're quick little suckers, and I was surprised that once they were up on the rocks above us, they stayed still long enough for us to snap several pictures before concluding our hike and heading back to our car.

Total Distance: 1.6 miles
Trail Type: Loop
Trail Appearance: Dirt/mud trail, gravel last 1/2 mile
Trail Elevation: Easy uphill/downhill climbs
Atmosphere: Quiet, birds, rock chucks
View: River, lake, canyon, cliffs, rocks
Extras: Rock chucks, Shoshone Falls

Difficulty: Easy- Moderate
My Rating: **** 
Kid Ratings: N/A;*****;*****

*Awesome "rock chuck peeking over the rock" pic contributed by my brother Eric