Remember our Idaho trip? I know. It was a long time ago. Seems like it was in a whole different year! (See, it's funny because I'm writing this in 2024 and the trip was 2023 so... funny.)
From our base in Twin Falls, it was only an hour and a half to City of Rocks National Reserve. Never heard of it? I hadn't either. At least not until I used the "Find a Park" to find all the NPS units in Idaho. Good thing because OMG IT'S GORGEOUS!
From the road we could see rocks on the hill. Oooh! Rocks! Like we've never seen rocks before. Big deal. But when we drove into the Reserve we could see the rocks rising. And rising. And rising. By the time we parked at the Circle Creek Overlook trailhead we were surrounded by ridges of bare rock. They didn't look that high... until you saw the teeny tiny climbers near the summit. Ok. I get it.
I'm not usually a fan of interpretive trails, but in a setting like this it was well worth our time. We wound through the brush and climbed the easier rocks. The valley opened up below us and it felt we should have be seeing a herd of dinosaurs grazing.
The feeling was so strong, in fact, that some in our family broke the cardinal rule and played audio on the trail. Sure, it was the classic theme from Jurassic Park, but still. Tsk tsk.
The rocks were gorgeous, the views were amazing. We made several stops at different trails and explored a bunch of the Reserve. In spite of spending the whole day there, we experienced only a tiny fraction of what's there. 100% sure it's on my list for an extended visit.
