The City of Rocks National Reserve, a site managed by the National Park Servie in south-c entral Idaho, is but one of several locations in the area known for colorful and unusual rock formations.

The is what the park service and others say about it:

"The City of Rocks National Reserve geologic area became a landmark in 1843 for California bound emigrants. A few granite pinnacles and monoliths are in excess of 60 stories tall and 2.5 billion years old. The smooth granite faces offer exceptional rock climbing. The reserve is managed by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service." From www.nps.gov/ciro/.





"World class climbing awaits you (at City of Rocks National Reserve) no matter what your free-climbing genre. The camping is convenient, the scenery is beautiful, the routes are varied and there is no 'scene' but the scenic beauty of a high altitude desert. Dozens of routes are described here with photographs and detailed route information." From rockclimbing.com.

"Forming a 49-mile 'necklace' around the Albion Mountain Range, the City of Rocks Back Country Byway traverses historically significant rural landscapes that preserve numerous unique attributes of Western development. The City of Rocks area's historic and geological values, pristine scenic beauty, and opportunities for recreation led to its designation as a national reserve. The City of Rocks National Reserve rivals Yosemite National Park as a favorite of technical rock climbers as it contains a great number and variety of climbs." From byways.org and visitsouthidaho.com/city-of-rocks-byway.



While in the area, be sure to visit Shoshone Falls nearby at Twin Falls. It only runs big for a limited number of days in spring, however, due to diversion of much of the water for irrigation.

A lot of people would vote for Shoshone Falls as the best waterfall in Idaho, indeed the entire Pacific Northwest (when it is running big). It tops the ranks on this list of the best 100.



Because the Snake River is harnessed to irrigate farmland, Shoshone Falls thunders at full force for only a few weeks each spring.



But when it's falling, it's amazing. Its the Niagara of the West. This waterfall on the east edge of Twin Falls, south-central Idaho's agricultural hub, plunges 212 feet into a gigantic bowl.People love sand. Especially big piles of it, 470 feet high.

North of the city of Gooding, on Idaho 46, signs direct travelers to the BLM's Little City of Rocks (driving tour information) and Gooding City of Rocks.



Both are canyons chock-full of fantastically shaped hoodoos and rock walls, something like Oregon's Smith Rock State Park.

And west of Twin Falls, near the town of Buhl, is Balanced Rock State Park. From a certain angle, the giant balancing rock presents a profile strikingly similar to that of Africa when viewed on a flat global map.

Learn more from visitidaho.org.

See some great photos taken by Idaho newspaper photographers this summer at this link:

Idaho: Why Oregonians love it, part 2 (photos from Gem State newspapers this summer)

-- Terry Richard