Always seen the awesome pictures from Craters of the Moon and while passing through the area had to…read moremake a quick stop in to check it out! Visitor center is chock full of gifts and swag for NPS and Craters of the Moon. Get your NPS passport stamp here, good restroom facilities, top off on your water, get a map and get the free permit stamp/brief for the cave portion. The ranger fee station is just down the road after you have your permit and off and running you go! The loop is a quick drive by itself. There are multiple pull off areas with parking for hiking trails or a quick scenic over prior to it transitioning to the one way roads. Adequate parking available for light season. Bathrooms are available at a few of the major stops as well (old school no running water). The lava fields trails and approximately 3/4 of a mile (one way) hike to the caves can be very warm on a hot day. Ensure to stay hydrated and use some sunscreen if spending quality time within the park. Enjoy!

+ I arrived late (after 6pm), so no one at the booth to confirm my America the Beautiful Pass ;)…read more+ Pleasant scenice drive without the crowd. + Inferno Cone's an excellent short stop to explore the terrain of one of CM's humble-sized dormant volcanoes. + Pigeons live in the now dormant Spatter Cones. That's why you don't wanna throw anything down there. + So glad I didn't chicken out of checking out Dewdrop Cave and Indian Tunnel. If you're visiting the Mt West hoping to visit gems like Wind Cave or Lewis and Clark Caverns SP and are disappointed to realize the spots fill out early, here's a fantastic consolation: scrambling around the boulders of the fascinating Caves Trail caves. + Peaceful place to camp safely too. Not too far into the wilderness away from infrastructure. - Seemed to be few restrooms or water throughout the Loop Rd though. + Glad there's a lavatory and trash bins at Caves Trail parking though. - Virtually no shade throughout the monument.

Fairly new center on a large property, with room to expand. The fossils that have been located…read morethroughout the Hagerman Valley are displayed here. There is a Ranger who can provide all kinds of information on the different Thousand Springs locations, Hagerman Fossil Bed NM and Hagerman Valley area. There is a classroom with children's activities, restrooms, water refill, large parking lot and small gift shop.

Fleece the campers???…read more I went through the procedure to reserve one of the smaller sites for our 21' trailer. The price of $40 was prominently displayed. OK, a bit high for a one-night stay in a state park with no sewer or water connection. But, I'll pay for the convenience. Big surprise upon checking out. The total cost was shown to be $58.71, nearly 50% higher than the $40 advertised price. Here is what the additional charges were for: $7 Motor Vehicle Fee. My vehicle is registered in AZ. How is this justified? And since everyone get there with a vehicle of some sort, why is this not included in the displayed price? $10 transaction fee. I did all the work that the person who used to take the reservation over the phone would have done. The ID State Parks have replaced that service with a computer program. And apparently I have to pay for their computer system as well. Go figure. 3% Service fee. Who knows how they justify this? It is fortunate that the West has an abundance of Federal lands on which one can camp for a small fraction of the cost of this state park.

We happened on this nice park and visitors center while driving across country in our RV. It…read moreincludes cabins and RV sites, but we were stopping to make a picnic lunch. We enjoyed the visitors center a lot, and had a delightful lunch near the Snake River. History, shade, friendly people, and serenity - what more could we ask for?

Wow! Amazing views and depths will be seen here! Colorful shades of blue in the water . Crazy…read moresteep drops, so be careful where you view. No risky selfies please.

Malad Gorge State Park is located in Hagerman, Idaho and is one of several units of the Thousand…read moreSprings State Park area. Other nearby sections include...Niagara Springs, Box Canyon Springs and Ritter Island. For visiting Malad Gorge, yes...you do have pleasant surroundings from high above. But the frequently talked about highlight for coming here is getting to see Devil's Washbowl. Devil's Washbowl is a 150 foot waterfall splashing down into the Snake River that cuts between the canyon gorge. All you have to do is walk a short pathway from the parking lot (1/4 of a mile) to an overlook vista point to catch the best glimpses of Devil's Washbowl. ***But, here was my problem...Devil's Washbowl was so far off into the distance, it's virtually impossible to get a quality photo of (if you're using your phone and not a professional camera). That was disappointing. If you simply view Devil's Washbowl with your own eyes, it can be nice. It can be dramatic. But I was expecting to be standing a lot closer to the waterfall and this distant lookout point was a letdown because I had high expectations after getting to see other colorful waterfalls around Thousand Springs. It takes 2 minutes to watch Devil's Washbowl from the observation point. If you'd like, you can continue along the 2.5 mile walking pathway from high above the gorge, but there's not much to see. Extras to mention... - When walking over to Devil's Washbowl vista point, you cross over a footbridge beside I-84. Although it is noisy outside from the passing cars on the highway, the views looking down through the gorge were picturesque. Plus, Devil's Washbowl is actually located right underneath this footbridge. So...if you're not afraid of heights and don't mind leaning over the bridge, you can get a closer view of the falls standing on top of them. But, during my research, I read it was still difficult taking pictures from atop the footbridge. I didn't attempt this because if I ever somehow dropped my phone, I'd have problems, lol. - It's $7 day use entry for visiting Malad Gorge SP. But, this $7 is good at the other units as well like Box Canyon, Ritter Island and Niagara Springs...the parks that I stopped at for the day. - Devil's Washbowl is located off to the right hand side when you enter Malad Gorge SP. There's a roughly 5 mile scenic loop road you can drive around the park. It offers different viewpoints of the gorge, but nothing will get you closer to Devil's Washbowl than the primary lookout point beside the footbridge. Off to the left hand side when entering is a large picnic pavilion with plenty of grass. In the end, Malad Gorge State Park is a quick visit. I know I've said this before in many prior reviews where I don't have the most fulfilling experiences, I'd just relay to others to maybe temper expectations when seeing Devil's Washbowl. It's not so special and I found better opportunities at nearby waterfalls...Lemmon Falls, Minnie Miller Springs and Box Canyon Springs.

These guys are the real deal. Great local guys...knew the…read morehistory, the river, & how to treat their customers. Our guide "Porkchop" was the best. If you go tell him "Action", "T-bone", "Applesauce", & "Momma Bear" say hi! xoxo Kadel family from FLA

We had a fantastic trip down the river. Our guide, Audrey, was very safety oriented, knowledgeable,…read morekind, helpful, funny, and really made the trip fun for all guests on our boat.

We rented a Pontoon boat for about 3 hours to explore the lake and area. What a fun way to spend…read morethe day. The guys who got us on the boat and in the water and helped with docking were very nice. Boat was clean, very comfortable and ran well. Highly recommend!

Our boat ride was so much fun. The fact that the kids got to…read moredrive the boat was like icing on the cake.

We had a great experience with the "lunch trip" rafting package. The guides and other staff were…read morevery friendly and everything went smoothly throughout the day. Staff were very conscientious about safety. The lunch was more adventurous than I was expecting--grilled chicken, tzatziki, couscous, and a vegetable salad, with PBJ sandwiches as an option, and ridiculously good, freshly baked chocolate chip or blueberry & lemon cookies. Our guide Joey was knowledgeable and entertaining. During the day we saw lots of wildlife: tons of trout jumping at caddis flies, a mink, deer, merganser ducks, and multiple bald eagles, golden eagles, and ospreys. The river itself is beautiful. A few tips: You can bring additional food or beverages and leave them on the bus, which meets the party at the lunch spot. Several groups rafting with us brought small coolers with their own drinks and snacks. Probably a great idea if you have any food restrictions. It's recommended that you leave any valuables or electronics (or other water-sensitive items) in your car or in a lockbox with the staff. The guides have some limited room in a dry bag for phones or cameras, but it's not the most convenient to be taking a phone out of the drybag and putting it back in. You will not have cell service most of the day anyway, which was actually rather relaxing. Even the town of Stanley doesn't have great cell service in areas, so you may want to set up an "away" or "do not disturb" notice for the day. Sunblock and a hat are helpful; you'll be in the open sun on the water for most of the day. Highly recommend this company for rafting in Stanley.

Stellar boat trip with Iz down the Salmon River. Iz had a great sense of humor infused with…read moreknowledge of both biological and cultural facts about the river (or perhaps I should say her delivery of fun facts was infused with a great sense of humor). I got just the right amount of splashed and enjoyed jumping off of accurately named "Jump Rock" to cool off. Iz even let one of our group members have a hand in guiding during the chill parts of the river - many smiles and laughs today - thank you to The River Company for a lovely afternoon well spent :)