A Week in Idaho: Craters of The Moon, Waterfalls and Oregon Trail

June 1-7, 2016

Wednesday we moved north into Idaho, a new state for us since we've started rv'ing. Our destination was Massacre Rocks State Park near American Falls ID. We had reserved site 34 on the lower loop, Massacre Rocks SP is just off of I86 but the lower loop gets almost no road noise as it sits lower in the Snake River valley. It took us quite awhile to get set up as the site is not level at all, we were so high up on the jacks that I could walk under the front of the 5th wheel. 

Our table was up hill from the site and our view of the Snake River from it was absolutely breathtaking.

After finally getting set up we set out to explore the park, there are various trails in the park so it was time to explore.

The temps rose so the ac went on, the park is 30amp so Dave was keeping an eye on how many amps we were drawing. He was concerned as the voltage was low, finally in the middle of the night we lost power.

Thursday morning after a terrible nights sleep we were both up early, 6am is just way too early. After talking and wondering what might happen with our power Dave went out to work on the truck. Yesterday while trying to maneuver the truck's plastic fender had an encounter with a rock, we knew we would be moving one way or another so it had to be taken care of. While he was working on the truck the camphost stopped by on her rounds. We informed her of our issues and inquired about moving to another site. With our site preferences in hand she headed to the office, in a short while she was back with news, we could move to site 41 a site we'd seen the day before and liked. Site 41 is a host site that they are not using, guess what, it has 50amp and sewer,  and they didn't ask us for more money. So now we are set up for another 6 nights and we can use both ac's if needed, temps are suppose to head up into the 90's this weekend.

Friday we headed to Arco ID where our friends Al and Ingrid of Live Laugh RV are spending the summer workamping at Mountain View RV Park and Restaurant. We left our place about 8am, our goal was to explore Craters of the Moon National Monument with them. We arrived in Arco about 10:45 and soon were on our way to Craters of the Moon NM with out Al, he needed to get a few things done at the rv park while we played. Dave and I had been to Craters a number of years ago but it was in the fall and we didn't have much time. This time though with it still being spring we were  treated to some amazing blooms. We hiked the Inferno Cone (which last time I didn't do because I wasn't in shape to do it) and we hiked through a lava tube.

After a wonderful time at Craters we headed back to Ingrid and Al's place for a delicious lunch followed by healthy carrot cake cupcakes. We finally had to say goodbye and start our journey home. Thanks again for the wonderful day Ingrid and Al, looking forward to more fun with you two next winter in Texas, until then stay safe and enjoy.

Saturday morning's walk around the park and through the campground loops were before the heat set in. Our walk took us down to the boat ramp, Snake River looked calm so once back at the rv we got ready to hit the water.

This cabin is directly across the Snake River from us. The man who used to live here many years ago would climb the hill behind him every day, there he had a vast view of the surrounding land, he would check daily for any sign of fires.









Massacre Rocks State Park is located on the Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail began in Independence MO and ended near what is now Portland Oregon. Between 1840 and 1869 500,000 pioneers undertook the 2,000 mile trek west, many never made it. The state park derives it name from the "massacre" that took place in August of 1862 when over the course of a few days four wagon trains were attacked and by the end of the skirmishes ten pioneers were dead. One of the trails in the state park take you to where there are wheel ruts still visible so on Sunday we checked it out.

Though it's difficult to tell the path is where the Oregon Trail was once was.

 Monday we headed into Twin Falls ID to visit Shoshone Falls Park and to see if there were any jumpers on the Perrine Bridge. First up was Shoshone Falls described as being the "Niagara of the West", the falls 212' which is 50' higher than Niagara but no where near the sheer size of Niagara.

 The park is also where in 1974 Evel Knievel attempted to "jump" the Snake River. Having grown up with out a television I didn't watch this event but Dave did. Dave wanted to check out the site so we made the walk out to it, nice way to get our power walk in for the day.

The I.B Perrine Bridge is a popular spot for BASE (Buildings, Antenna, Span and Earth) jumpers but on this day there was no one jumping.

Every time we leave the park we see a sign for Register Rock a historical site so on Tuesday we decided to see what it was all about. Register Rock is a rock where pioneers carved their names on. It is now under cover and enclosed behind fencing to prevent vandalism.

We have enjoyed our time at Massacre Rocks State Park, it is a nice under utilized park. All the sites are 30amp but they will be changing them to 50amp this fall, also water is at every site. There are two disc golf courses, one 9 hole family friendly course and one 18 hole tournament course. We had our first go at disc golf and enjoyed it quite a bit, looking forward to finding more courses down the road. Tomorrow we head a few hours north to Henry's Lake State Park which will put us 15 miles west of West Yellowstone.

Until next time...