Installment #5 in Monolisticle's Ongoing Campaign Against the "Internet of Endless Listicles."
I’ve traveled all over the world.
I’ve read countless travel articles and books.
I’ve watched scores of TV shows about the most wondrous places on the planet.
And I’ve spent untold hours venturing down rabbit holes on the World Wide Webernet to research new places which I hope to someday visit.
So how had I missed this?
Even worse, how had I not even heard about it? One of the most astounding places I’ve ever seen, and I had no idea it even existed.
At all.
The “place” I’m referring to is Shoshone Falls, Idaho. The "Niagara of the West." 212 feet tall and 900 feet wide (42 feet higher than Niagara, actually). Beautiful. Breathtaking. Epic.
Never heard of it.
So I was on my way across country. I’ve been driving all day and so I looked on the map for a place to get a hotel room for the night. I hadn’t expected to stop in this area so I had not done any research on it. Zilch. Which is very unlike me. Because typically I do. I always research sites. And restaurants. And hiking and biking trails. And interesting sites. Wherever I go. Without fail. Always.
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My original plan that day was to stop at a place that I had, in fact, heard of. The Grand Prismatic Spring in Wyoming, the largest hot spring in the United States. But for various reasons, I’d decided to bypass it and try to make some time.
When I pulled off at the Twin Falls exit, I'm thinking that I’ll just get a room, grab food somewhere, and that’s it. Get a good night sleep and be on my way early the next morning. Simply out of curiosity, I pulled out the Googler and looked up Twin Falls (I know, I know. The name Twin Falls should have told me something, right?). I was hoping to at least find a park where I could stretch my legs, or even better, find a mountain bike trail.
Up popped Shoshone Falls.
Adding even more to Shoshone Falls’ worthiness as an attraction, apparently, is that it’s also just down the river from where daredevil motorcycle jumper Evel Knievel attempted to jump over the Snake River. Who knew? Well, apparently a lot of people knew. Just not me.
Once in the park, I took in the view from the main viewing platform where all the other tourists were taking in the view. But ever the explorer, I walked up the hill a bit more, curious to see where it led. Lucky me. Because I was able to capture the rainbow photo above. And also see another waterfall cascading down a cliff to my left.
Moral of the story? Curiosity and exploration have their rewards. While traveling, always be willing to call an audible. You never know what you might stumble across. It might be better than the original thing you were looking for.
Shoshone Falls park is wheelchair accessible, and there are multiple places to view the Falls without going up or down stairs. For more details on hours, parking fees, and current conditions, visit tfid.org.
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