2014-2 City of Rocks, Idaho
Hello All,
After a good night’s rest in Twin Falls, ID, we were back on the road eastbound on Interstate 84. At the intersection of Idaho 77 we turned and followed the road southbound towards Albion, ID, where we picked up the City of Rocks Backcountry Byway. This 49-mile byway does a necklace loop around the City of Rocks National Preserve. From the Reserve, the route turns back to the north and follows gravel roads to the town of Oakley, ID, where the byway ends. The entire town of Oakley is on the National Register of Historic Places and features the state‘s largest concentration of old stone and wood-framed buildings.
Arriving at the small country town of Albion we stopped and snapped a few photos of this little old church complete with a bell in the bell tower. We thought it was kind of neat.
After a good night’s rest in Twin Falls, ID, we were back on the road eastbound on Interstate 84. At the intersection of Idaho 77 we turned and followed the road southbound towards Albion, ID, where we picked up the City of Rocks Backcountry Byway. This 49-mile byway does a necklace loop around the City of Rocks National Preserve. From the Reserve, the route turns back to the north and follows gravel roads to the town of Oakley, ID, where the byway ends. The entire town of Oakley is on the National Register of Historic Places and features the state‘s largest concentration of old stone and wood-framed buildings.
Arriving at the small country town of Albion we stopped and snapped a few photos of this little old church complete with a bell in the bell tower. We thought it was kind of neat.
From Albion the byway goes
south through the tiny towns of Elba and Almo, and traverses the outskirts of
the Pomerelle Ski Area and Lake Cleveland Recreation Area as it heads south. We
took the road up into Pomerelle Ski Area, but there isn’t much to photograph in
a ski area without snow.
By midday we made it to Castle Rocks State Park. So we drove in and checked it out. There were many families camped in the campground enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend. The parking lots were full as people were hiking the trails up into the rock formations.
By midday we made it to Castle Rocks State Park. So we drove in and checked it out. There were many families camped in the campground enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend. The parking lots were full as people were hiking the trails up into the rock formations.
With no place to park we
forged on. At the base of the byway‘s necklace lies its jewel, the City of
Rocks National Reserve, where more than 700 challenging climbs rival Yosemite
National Park and make it a favorite spot among technical rock climbers
worldwide. These granite outcroppings, some more than 2.5 billion years old, soar
above alpine-like meadows and juniper tree stands, offering a variety of
recreational opportunities.
As we first entered the City of Rocks there were colossal rock giants scattered here and there. We pulled over and stopped at one named Camp Rock.
Throughout the west, immigrants recorded their passing by writing their name, often with axle grease, at unique places like City of Rocks. Camp Rock once contained hundreds of such recordings. But, these historic records are fast disappearing. Nature takes its toll as well as careless or malicious humans.
As we first entered the City of Rocks there were colossal rock giants scattered here and there. We pulled over and stopped at one named Camp Rock.
Throughout the west, immigrants recorded their passing by writing their name, often with axle grease, at unique places like City of Rocks. Camp Rock once contained hundreds of such recordings. But, these historic records are fast disappearing. Nature takes its toll as well as careless or malicious humans.
We followed the trail around
Camp Rock--it was one large monolith.
On the back side of the rock
we found where immigrants wrote their names. As you can see they are fading
away into oblivion.
Circle Creek Basin, the rock
studded valley in the following photo, looks much as it did when California
Trail immigrants camped here many years ago. It contained the three
requirements for a suitable camp: water, fuel and grass. Many immigrant trains
spent the night here while grazing their livestock in the creek bottom below.
Unlike most campsites along the 2,000-mile trail, this spot offered something
more; its massive rocks--so very different from the flat prairie they traveled
earlier on in their journey. It offered pioneers inspiration and many took the
time to reflect and write about them.
Continuing on down the road we
found these unique giants to be fascinating.
There were rock climbers
everywhere. Many times at first we didn’t see them on the rocks, like these in
the following photo.
But, upon closer inspection you could see that
there were a number of them climbing the rock. In this photo you can see a guy
sitting near the top of a crack in the middle. At the bottom of the same crack
is another guy climbing up. To the right is another guy, in a blue shirt, climbing
solo.
The following two shots will
help you zero in on them.
As we drove higher up into the
reserve the rocks become more concentrated. There was a nice campground with
campsites in and amongst the boulders. It was pretty awesome.
We parked and hiked into an
area where the rocks were heavily concentrated with unique and unusual shapes.
It was pretty amazing in that it was unlike any other area we have been in.
This formation really got our
attention! Miss Barb had to have her photo taken with it.
By late afternoon the weather
began to deteriorate rapidly--lightning was flashing and thunder was rolling.
We felt concerned for the climbers up on the rocks.
We made one last stop before calling it a day at an area popular with climbers. The parking lot was full of vehicles and tents were scattered throughout the area.
We made one last stop before calling it a day at an area popular with climbers. The parking lot was full of vehicles and tents were scattered throughout the area.
City of Rocks receives over
100,000 national and international visitors annually, and most have come to
climb in this quiet western setting. The Reserve provides one of the highest
quality granite-face climbing areas in the United States, offering over 600
traditional and sport climbing routes ranging from the easy 5.6 to the
difficult 5.13+.
We thoroughly enjoyed our day at the City of Rocks and will come back again another day. It is an area we would recommend for others to visit.
Our next adventure will take us to Europe where we will kick off a 15-day river cruise from Budapest, Hungary, to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Hope you will tag along with us.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
We thoroughly enjoyed our day at the City of Rocks and will come back again another day. It is an area we would recommend for others to visit.
Our next adventure will take us to Europe where we will kick off a 15-day river cruise from Budapest, Hungary, to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Hope you will tag along with us.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns