One exit near Twin Falls drops you into a canyon with waterfalls, BASE jumpers, and kayakers

It’s southern Idaho’s best-kept secret

Snake River Canyon cuts more than 50 miles through southern Idaho, and most people have never heard of it. Basalt walls drop hundreds of feet straight down to the river.

A bridge stands 486 feet above the water, and people jump off it every day, legally. One waterfall here is taller than Niagara.

Another one lets you walk behind it. You can kayak between canyon walls, hike 10 miles of paved rim trail, and stand where Evel Knievel tried to rocket across.

The whole area sits near the city of Twin Falls, and it packs more into a few miles than places ten times as famous.

An ancient flood carved the whole thing

The canyon didn’t form slowly. Thousands of years ago, ancient volcanic lava flows laid down thick layers of basalt across this part of Idaho.

Then the Bonneville Flood, one of the largest known floods in geological history, ripped through the rock. It scoured out the canyon, scattered massive boulders, and created waterfalls along the walls.

The region around it goes by the Magic Valley, and Twin Falls sits right in the middle. Everything you see down in that gorge started with one violent surge of water.

A farmer from Indiana changed everything

Ira Burton Perrine left Indiana in 1884 and settled in the canyon itself. The land above the rim was bone dry, but Perrine saw what water could do.

He pushed to build a dam on the Snake River and dig a canal system to irrigate the desert. In 1900, he founded the Twin Falls Land and Water Company.

By 1905, the Milner Dam brought water to more than 200,000 acres.

The city of Twin Falls was founded in 1904, and today both the bridge and a waterfall carry Perrine’s name.

Walk across the Perrine Bridge 486 feet up

The I.B. Perrine Bridge stretches 1,500 feet across the canyon and carries U.S. Highway 93. Its deck sits 486 feet above the Snake River, making it one of the tallest bridges in the country.

The current steel truss arch bridge opened in July 1976, replacing a two-lane cantilever bridge that had stood since 1927.

Pedestrian walkways run along both sides, separated from traffic by barriers, so you can walk the full span and look straight down into the gorge.

A visitor center sits at the southwest end with overlooks and a statue of Perrine.

Watch someone jump off the bridge

Most days, if the weather cooperates, you can stand on the Perrine Bridge walkway and watch BASE jumpers leap off a platform near the middle of the span.

They freefall, deploy their parachutes, and glide down to a landing zone on the canyon floor. This is one of the only bridges in the country where BASE jumping is legal year-round without a permit.

That status has turned Twin Falls into a gathering point for the global BASE jumping community. You don’t need to jump yourself.

Just watching from 486 feet up is enough.

Shoshone Falls drops 212 feet, topping Niagara

Shoshone Falls plunges 212 feet on the Snake River, making it taller than Niagara Falls. The water stretches roughly 900 feet wide, which earned it the nickname “the Niagara of the West.”

People have been coming to see it since the mid-1800s, when travelers on the Oregon Trail would detour off the route just to stand at the edge.

A park overlook gives you picnic areas, playgrounds, hiking trails and restrooms. Spring is the time to go, roughly April through June, when snowmelt pushes the flow to full force.

Perrine Coulee lets you walk behind the water

About 200 feet of water drops from the canyon rim right near the Perrine Bridge, and you can get behind it. A short trail leads down to the base of Perrine Coulee Falls and takes you right underneath the cascade.

Unlike most waterfalls in the area, this one flows year-round, with summer bringing the strongest volume. You can also see it from above along the Canyon Rim Trail.

The falls get fed partly by irrigation runoff from the canal systems built in the early 1900s, tying the waterfall directly to the region’s farming roots.

Ten miles of paved trail line the rim

The Snake River Canyon Rim Trail runs more than 10 miles along the south rim, paved the whole way. You can walk it, run it, or bike it any time of year.

Access points include the Twin Falls Visitor Center, Shoshone Falls Park and several trailheads along the route.

As you go, overlooks open up with views of the canyon, the Perrine Bridge, waterfalls and the river far below. The trail is wheelchair and stroller accessible, and dogs are welcome on a leash, so nobody gets left behind.

Evel Knievel launched a rocket here in 1974

On Sept. 8, 1974, Evel Knievel climbed into a steam-powered rocket called the Skycycle X-2 and tried to fly across the 1,600-foot-wide canyon.

The parachute deployed right after launch, and Knievel drifted down to the canyon floor instead of across it. He survived.

The large earthen ramp still sits on the south rim, about a mile and a half east of the Perrine Bridge, with a monument and interpretive markers along the Canyon Rim Trail.

In 2016, stuntman Eddie Braun completed the jump in a replica Skycycle.

Paddle under the bridge and past canyon springs

You can launch a kayak or paddleboard from Centennial Waterfront Park on the canyon floor, west of the Perrine Bridge.

Paddle east and you’ll pass right under the bridge, with BASE jumpers overhead, canyon walls lined with small waterfalls and natural springs.

About two miles upstream, rock formations at Pillar Falls rise straight out of the river. The Snake River runs calm through this stretch in summer, so you don’t need to be an expert.

Know that passage past Pillar Falls is restricted, and a free hot wash from the Idaho Department of Agriculture is required at launch to prevent invasive species.

Hike to Auger Falls and a broken bridge

Downstream from Centennial Waterfront Park, Auger Falls Heritage Park spreads across the canyon with hiking and mountain biking trails.

The hike to Auger Falls covers about two miles through varied terrain, and along the way you pass a historic broken bridge and can spot waterfalls on the north side of the canyon.

The park also has a bicycle skills area with a pump track if you want to mix things up. Trails range from easy to moderate, and dogs can come along.

Springs that traveled underground for 200 years

About 30 minutes west of Twin Falls in the Hagerman Valley, Thousand Springs State Park sits along the canyon wall.

Crystal-clear springs burst from the rock, fed by water that traveled underground for nearly 200 years from rivers that sank into porous lava fields roughly 100 miles away.

The park splits into units, including Malad Gorge, Niagara Springs, Box Canyon Springs Nature Preserve, Ritter Island and Billingsley Creek.

Box Canyon Springs alone pumps out about 180,000 gallons per minute, one of the largest natural springs in North America. A visitor center in Hagerman has maps to get you started.

Swim at Dierkes Lake or zip line the canyon floor

Dierkes Lake covers 191 acres right next to Shoshone Falls, with swimming, non-motorized boating, playgrounds and picnic areas. The lake shares a vehicle entry fee with Shoshone Falls Park from March through September.

Down on the canyon floor, Centennial Waterfront Park gives you views of the Perrine Bridge and Perrine Coulee Falls from below. Boat launches, picnic pavilions and fishing access line the riverbank.

The Mogensen Trail follows the river for about two miles under the bridge, and zip line tours send you soaring above it all.

Explore Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho

If you want to see all of this in one trip, Twin Falls sits about two hours southeast of Boise along Interstate 84. The Perrine Bridge, Shoshone Falls and the Canyon Rim Trail are all within a few miles of each other.

Start at the Twin Falls Visitor Center on the bridge’s southwest end, where you’ll find parking, trail maps, bike rentals and canyon overlooks. Walking the bridge and the rim trail costs nothing.

Shoshone Falls and Dierkes Lake share a vehicle entry fee during peak season.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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