In the name of chasing waterfalls, we decided to see some of Thousand Springs State Park. It has six separate parks or units, and I had four of them on our list. This post will be the first two, then the second post for today will be the other two.

We drove through rural roads and saw lots of confined animal feed lots with cows, and saw lots of trucks hauling around feed for them. It’s a full time job just feeding all of these animals. They must have a good method for manure management, as I never once smelled anything bad. We did see long rows of drying manure and one tractor spreading it on a field.

First stop was at Niagara Springs. The road going in was partly paved and partly dirt. The winding dirt part hugged the rock hillside and would have been impossible when wet. Speed limit signs were 5mph on the dirt road section where the springs gush pure aquifer water down to a fish hatchery and to the Snake River. It was a bumpy ride for a beautiful scene.

Next stop was to see Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon Springs. We could have spent the rest of the day just here. There is a canyon rim walk, which we took to see lovely views all around the box canyon. There is also a trail at the bottom along the spring that feeds into the Snake River. The water here has that blue glacier color that is absolutely gorgeous to see. It’s called an amphitheater-headed canyon because the valley stops abruptly with the 115ft tall headwall. The rock here is also basalt like the Snake River Canyon, and this spring is not strong enough (though it could fill the average house in 45 seconds) to have eroded this type of rock. Evidence shows that a megaflood about 45,000 years ago caused this to be here with plunge pools showing sites of ancient waterfalls and flowing water marks on top to show water being forced over the headwall. Fascinating geology!

The pictures and my words don’t do this canyon justice. Incredibly beautiful!