Visiting Boise and Twin Falls Idaho

Boise & Lucky Peak Reservoir

We actually spent very little time in Boise proper and instead gravitated to the Lucky Peak Reservoir area just north east of Boise for 2 days.

Looking for quiet nights and pleasant scenery, I had requested permission to park at a Boondocker’s Welcome hosted property just outside of the city. The hosted parking spot was perfect for our stay even with cell signal being non existent. With much to see and do in this vista laden canyon and water recreation area, the location turned out to be a delightful surprise.

Lucky Peak reservoir

We spent an evening visiting the marina area and a small interpretative park, Foote Path, located across the Lucky Peak dam. The park provided interesting history around the dam and also the family behind much of this area’s dam development. With rolling hills and dropped cliffs, there were views everywhere.

While driving around a neighborhood area called Wilderness Ranch, we caught a cow elk noshing next to the road. She patiently waited for me to fumble for my phone and snap her picture. That was a first!

Arrowrock Dam

Further east from the main marina and along a gravel road, sits the Arrowrock Dam. We took a pre-kayak morning drive along the reservoir. Saw how the canyon changes, a few tucked away dispersed camping sites, and even a few fishermen just getting away from the recreating crowds on the main reservoir.

The dam was built in 1915 and is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The design and build created new construction techniques for concrete dams. And, it served as the prototype of gravity-arch dams in the western United States.

Kayaking the reservoir from Robbie Creek

Rather than paddle around where the big boats are pulling big tubes around, we choose to go to a local park, on one end of the reservoir, to launch away from the bigger boat crowd. Robbie Creek feeds into the lake and has a nice park, swim area and boat launch. You can get a lot of paddling done within in the no wake zone. The calm water was pleasant, but we choose to push on further and view the tall rock walls rimming this reservoir.

Kayaking on the Snake River

After we left Boise, we were heading into Twin Falls for a repeat visit. We spent a few days here last summer (2019) and thoroughly enjoyed the variety of walking trails, parks, water falls, and the Snake River itself. We also had another Boondocker’s Welcome host sharing a parking spot for our stay. Super nice couple with a nice RV setup for guests on their farm acreage.

To view our 2019 post, click below.

We were able to spend a morning paddling on the Snake River this summer also. There were many more people out on the river in July 2020 than we saw on the river in 2019. Both Kayaks and SUPs and mostly rentals from the park concessionaire were dotting the river; it looked like a very colorful party. Check out the video clip one what it’s like to kayak on the Snake River.

Where to next?

We’ll be making our way to Red Lodge, MT to backpack, hike, kayak and most importantly visit friends. We’ll take a route passing through Island Park and Henrys Lake area followed by a stop in Bozeman, MT.