Life's Sweet Journey: 5 Reasons to Visit Idaho

Thursday, January 10, 2019

5 Reasons to Visit Idaho

I am kicking off the year by sharing one of my favorite spots of 2018! After spending 7 months on the road, and traipsing through over 20 different states, you might be surprised to find that my favorite one was Idaho... yes, Idaho! I was just as shocked! We planned to drive through, spending one night in Idaho on the way out west and again on the way back east. Plans changed quickly and here's why... Though there are more, here are 5 reasons to visit Idaho.



5 Reasons to Visit Idaho


5 Reasons to Visit Idaho


1.) Idaho has Lush, Beautiful Waterfalls 

We spent the majority of our time out west in the winter, so needless to say, there was a lot of brown. Literally we crossed the border into southern Idaho and I screamed at Babe, "stop! Pull over!! Look, look... that scenic turn-off; get over, take it!! STOP!!" We scrambled out of the truck in Twin Falls, Idaho and into paradise! Nothing but lush, green views with waterfalls literally cascading from every direction. They weren't huge, wide powerful things, but instead these thin beautiful lines of water falling to the earth up and down the expanse of rock wall leading down to the river. Then, amidst all this beauty I see someone jump right off the huge bridge we were parked next to... base jumping!! I had always wanted to see someone BASE jump and the colorful suit set against the gorgeous backdrop made it the perfect entrance into my new favorite state!


5 Things to do in Idaho
Shoshone Falls Reasons to Visit Idaho

2.) Shoshone Falls 

Twin Falls, Idaho should basically be called "million falls Idaho"! It has thin, beautiful falls and it is also home to Shoshone Falls, sometimes called the "Niagara of the West". Now, I have never seen Niagara Falls, but I kept saying "this is what I always imagined Niagara would look like". Shoshone Falls was beautiful, but also had such immense power that we could feel the spray of water even from very far away. There is a $3.00 car fee if you want to drive down to the base or you can park up at the top and hike in. Shoshone Falls is located on the Snake River and is definitely worth a visit! 

3.) Shoshone Indian Ice Cave 

Such a cool place- literally!! You wouldn't expect to find ice in the middle of the desert, especially at the end of May, but there it was. In the middle of nowhere, on a nondescript roadside reservation, site the Shoshone Indian Ice Cave. Set in the ground, in a lava tube the cool air gets trapped creating ice from water inside the cave. We were there towards the end of the season, but were told that sometimes the ice gets so high it covers the boardwalks. It's $10 per adult to visit Shoshone Ice Caves and well worth the $$! 

Shoshone Ice Cave Reasons to Visit Idaho
Sublett Reservoir Idaho Free Camping
Sublett Reservoir Idaho Boondocking Free Camping Idaho

4.) Best Boondocking in the US 

Idaho also won our vote for best boondocking spot in the US; at least in our opinion! Babe found this beautiful spot on Freecampsites.com and after driving down a gravel road, with no cell service and praying the gps coordinates worked, we entered into this heavenly space! Surrounded by gorgeous, green mountains on all sides I literally felt like I was in The Sound of Music and couldn't stop singing "The hills are alive..." We had the entire place to ourselves and soaked in as much of the beauty as we could in one night! If we could have stayed the entire 14 days that is allowed I would have, but there is no cell service and we had to pack it up after one night so that we could work. 

5.) Route of the Hiawatha Scenic Bike Trail 

While most of our time in Idaho was spent in southern Idaho, we also passed through Northern Idaho on our way to Glacier NP. Friends recommended we do the Route of the Hiawatha and we are so glad we did! It was one of our favorite experiences on the road! The Route of the Hiawatha is a 15 mile downhill bike trail covering an old train trestle. You pass through old tunnels (one of which is over a mile long) and over train trestles that seem sky high! While most people do this on their mountain bikes, we braved it on our beach cruisers. It's all downhill, so we didn't have to pedal like crazy and our bikes withstood most of the rocky bumps; sure, we popped our chains once or twice, but our sweet little Huffy cruisers survived!! 
Route of the Hiawatha Visit Idaho
Route of the Hiawatha Visit Idaho

The cost to do the trail is about $25 per person ($12 for the trail pass, $10 for the shuttle; I also rented a helmet for $7.00). You do need a flashlight attached to your bike or helmet  to do the trail, which can be rented as well. We chose to duct tape our own small, handheld flashlights to our bikes. While they worked, I would recommend something a little stronger. The mile long tunnel gets completely dark and the light from our little flashlights didn't allow us to see very far, making us feel really disoriented (it also gets really cold in the tunnels- even in summer- so be sure to bring a light jacket). On our second pass through the longest tunnel we turned on our iPhone flashlights as well and that definitely helped a lot! 

We really loved Idaho! Babe wasn't as on-board about Idaho as I was, until we did the Route of the Hiawatha; he kept saying I only loved it because we hadn't seen green in so long, but once we rode the Hiawatha he was 100% sold. If you have never thought about visiting Idaho I would highly recommend changing your mind! 

Check out more REASONS TO VISIT IDAHO and all its beauty in our vlogs


Have you ever been? 
Any place you didn't think much about completely take you by surprise? 

Where have you been lately?! 
Link up for this month's Travel Tuesday Link Up! 
Let's explore together!! 
#TravelTuesday Travel Blogger Link Up
~On the 2nd Tuesday of every month I will be sharing a new travel post and would love to see where you have been exploring!
~Any linked posts will be pinned under Travel Tuesday on my Pinterest account. 
~Please leave a little love on the post directly before yours and then anywhere else you like! That way we can all grow this community together :) 
~Not many other rules, as I am not a huge fan of those sorts of things! Just add any travel related link and I encourage you to peek around and see where everyone else has been. 
~Feel free to grab the image from the sidebar and add it to your post so others know where to link up.
~I will also be featuring my favorite post from the month before and sharing across social media. This month I'm loving A Book Lover's Adventures guest post about great things to do in Melbourne, FL. I have lived in Central Florida my whole, but never explored much of Melbourne. Definitely need to change that!! 




36 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful place! I would absolutely love to visit Idaho with my family!

    ReplyDelete
  2. How cool! I’m from Twin Falls, Idaho. Born and raised and still here today (: I guess I take it for granted sometimes after spending so many years here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness! Twin Falls was so wonderful! But yes, I totally understand that. We live in Orlando and practically grew up on the beach, but I didn't really how much I love the ocean until I was landlocked for 6 months.

      Delete
  3. So smart that you just taped on your own flashlight to your rented helmet. Seems like you had so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Shoshone Falls are gorgeous! I need to add Idaho to my list of states to visit now! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those waterfall shots are INcredible! I'm not one for mountain biking too much but for views like that? And that ice cave! Ive never heard of such a thing and never thought of Idaho as a desert.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most of it isn't; its so lush and green, but the area leading to the ice caves was very flat and dry.

      Delete
  6. Idaho looks and sounds like an amazing place to visit. I hope I get to visit one of these days.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to admit Idaho has never been on my radar but it looks beautiful. Never imagined there were waterfalls and that it is so green.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right?! I was the exact same way before I went! But it's so gorgeous!

      Delete
  8. Looks like an amazing place to visit. My husband loves the outdoors and he would love to vacation in Idaho.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't think I've given Idaho much of a thought at all so I'm glad to read this! I will definitely add it to the list now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was never even a blip on my radar before I went; now I would love to go back and explore even more!!

      Delete
  10. The waterfalls are so beautiful!! Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have heard such great things about Idaho! I would love to visit it. Looks just gorgeous! Thanks for featuring my article this month :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course!! It reminded me how much of Florida is still left to be explored!

      Delete
  12. Your photos look lovely :-) Funnily enough, when I was in NYC I met people from Idaho on the ferry and thought they were the friendliest ever, so whenever I hear about Idaho now I just think: that's where kind people live!
    #WanderfulWednesday

    ReplyDelete
  13. Idaho is actually on my list because it does look unexpectedly beautiful! (I feel like it's one of those underrated places!) I had no idea there were waterfalls, too. Love the sunset picture - just gorgeous!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm up for the Route of the Hiawatha, especially since it's all downhill, that's probably my favourite way to bike ride! #WanderfulWednesday

    ReplyDelete
  15. I totally agree with you - I was shocked by how beautiful Idaho was when I drove through it. I moved to Seattle about 5 years ago and drove a U-Haul from Wisconsin. When we got to Idaho, I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was! I've only been back once since moving to Washington, but this post definitely gave me some ideas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right?! I was shocked!! I will definitely be going back!

      Delete
  16. I haven't spent much time there but it looks so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Okay first of all, I had no idea Idaho had waterfalls! It is definitely an underrated state!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Attracting over two million visitors annually, the number of temples found in this beautiful city is thought to stand at over one thousand, making it a stunning location for history enthusiasts to come and explore. The Angkor Thom is particularly impressive, as the last capital city of the Khmer Empire which is filled with beautiful structures dating back hundreds of years. Indochina Tour Reviews

    ReplyDelete
  19. This might be the most basic question for a travel agency as to why they need to use agencies specializing in corporate travel when there are plenty of regular travel agents in the market. ąø›๊ąø­ąøą¹€ąø”้ąø‡

    ReplyDelete
  20. It has become essential to recognize the need for greater flexibility acknowledging that the employees who travel on corporate trips also consider a percentage of their trip to be a leisure outlet. viajes para singles mayores de 45 aƱos

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been months for me. Well this article that i've been waited for so long. I need this article to complete my assignment in the college, and it has same topic with your article. Thanks, great share. chen zhi cambodia

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by for a bit!
I love comments, they make me smile :) Hope you are having a wonderful day!