One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
Shoshone FallsWe had camped out the previous night at a hot springs RV park south of Twin Falls, ID. We were continuing our slow journey north as my fiance and I were moving from LA to Spokane, WA. We had spent the previous day in Great Basin NP and had plans to visit a few different locations on this day. Our first stop, bright and early in the morning, was Shoshone Falls. Located on the Snake River on the outskirts of Twin Falls is Shoshone Falls Park. After paying the $3 entrance fee, you drive down a windy beat up road to a bluff over looking the river. Shoshone Falls was a striking sight. Shoshone Falls is a taller drop than Niagara Falls and it is easy to imagine how impressive an experience they must be when the river levels are high. We visited in late June so the amount of water was not tremendous but the falls were still worth the quick stop. We took a brief walk to a small lake that is part of the park and did the loop trail there. The Snake River gorge and the falls were beautiful, a park that I would like to see again under more ideal conditions. Minidoka National Historic SiteFrom Shoshone Falls we headed north to Minidoka National Historic Site. Minidoka is not far from Twin Falls, just outside Jerome, but it has the distinct feel of being isolated, which is probably why the site was chosen to be home to an internment camp. From 1942-1945, Executive Order 9066 authorized the removal of Japanese Americans from their homes and relocation to camps in remote areas of the American west. Minidoka is not the most well known of these camps, but the area housed thousands of men, women, and children during WWII. The site seems to be incredibly small and almost non-existent at first sight. You come across a reconstructed guard tower and the remains of a guard station along the road. There are, literally, two parking spaces and a couple of informational signs. I knew there was a temporary visitor center a little ways up a gravel road but I was beginning to worry that this was all there was to see. Luckily this impression was wrong and there ended up being plenty to see. There is a 1.6 mile trail that circles the NHS site and features the relics of authentic buildings, recreations of camp sites, and visuals of the impact the camp had on local farming up to today. There were signs along the trail detailing what each area looked like during the war. One of the coolest parts of the site was the baseball field. I have read stories from multiple Japanese internment camps about how baseball helped people survive their imprisonment. Minidoka had 14 baseball and softball fields during the war and the site has reconstructed a field, now called Center Field. The visitor center described baseball as "a glue" that helped keep people together during internment. I have coached youth sports for a number of years and truly believe that athletics can unit people and help you grow as a person. It was awesome to see a piece of sports history in the midst of remote Idaho farm country. The only real drawback of our visit to Minidoka was the bees. The trail was completely overrun by ground nests of nasty wasps and bees. The area near the river was the heaviest concentration of buzzing creatures I have ever experienced. There was also quite a large colony near the baseball field. This doesn't really bother me, but my fiance is deathly afraid of bees and was quite shaken up by our experience stumbling across the massive grouping of wasps. We retreated to the temporary visitor center to recoup from the bees and pick up the park's stamps. They are doing some remodeling and work at the site and the visitor center is currently in a WWII-era house a short walk from the trail. The exhibits were interesting and a great reminder of the horrors of war. Minidoka also has a memorial site on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, that I hope to visit in the near future. Minidoka NHS is well worth the drive if you are ever in the area; although be prepared for bees! You can take in everything in as little as an hour. We visited the park nice and early in the morning because we were also planning on visiting Craters of the Moon that afternoon. New Units Visited: 1
Minidoka NHS Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 12 Total Units: 25
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
NPS Units:
|