Family Road Trip From California to Yellowstone Tip- Stop at Shoshone Falls, Idaho

We just finished up our family vacation road trip from California to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole and back for a total of 2,500+.  When I was planning the road trip I realized that Nevada had a whole lot of nothing for a very long way.  I wanted to plan a stop ahead of time that would be fun and a nice break from the driving.  

National Geographic Kids sent me a ton of fun books and one of them showed me the perfect place to stop.  It is called the U.S. Road Trip Atlas.  It is broken down by state.  I looked at the Road Trip Atlas for Idaho and saw a place I had never heard of, but looked super cool, Shoshone Falls! It was just outside Twin Falls, Idaho and dubbed “Niagara of the west”.  This meant we had to stop there.

It seemed like we were in the wrong place because it was a little “middle of nowhere” feeling on the drive in to it, but once we started down the road and rounded the corner we saw the beautiful Snake River and could hear the water.  

We parked, walked to one of the observation points and were blown away.  It was beautiful!  The pictures I took don’t even do Shoshone Falls justice.  

They have serval places for great views of the falls.  I totally understand why it is called “Niagara of the west” because the falls are super wide.  

It is also a great place to picnic with a nice lawn and picnic tables.  On our road trip we packed a food box with lots of snacks, fruit, jerky, loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly.  

If you are looking for a place to stretch your legs while enjoying a cool destination on your road trip I definitely recommend stopping at Shoshone Falls.