Minidoka and the Moon
Twin Falls, one of southern Idaho’s biggest cities and the “gateway to Snake River Canyon,” has never been a primary destination for Jason and me, until last spring. We won a stay there at a charity event, and now, having enjoyed the national monuments and natural curiosities within its vicinity, I’m not sure why we never went before. Here’s my take on a few of those attractions.
Unlike Twin Falls, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, about an hour and a half from Twin Falls, has long intrigued us. Hence, it was goal #1 on this trip. Craters of the Moon became a national monument in 1924 to safeguard “a weird and scenic landscape peculiar to itself.” The monument is positioned on the Great Rift, a volcanic rift zone. A rift zone is a spot where the earth’s crust has been stretched making it prone to basaltic lava eruptions. At Craters of the Moon, that propensity has seen fruition in terrain topped with sheets of severe, undulating crust.
In the monument’s visitor center, we learned the differences between a caldera, cinder cone, and spatter cone. Did you know the type of lava rock that forms from an eruption depends on its silicone content, temperature, and dissolved gasses? Changes in these three factors lead to vastly different rock characteristics. Geology nerds unite!
We also discovered that Craters of the Moon is not a hospitable place. Not only is the landscape riddled with jagged lava rocks eager to tear at you, but the environment has many of the harsh aspects of both arctic and desert climates as well. For instance, with cloudless skies the norm, in winter the temperature can drop over 30 degrees within hours of sunset. We experienced a little of that. Most of Craters of the Moon is only accessible via snowshoes or skis during the winter (and spring until the snow melts), which sounded perfect to us. We started snowshoeing shortly after 3:00 and finished around 7:45, about four and a half hours total. Although temperatures were in the mid-40s when we headed out, we soon began shedding beanies and coats. As the sun got lower in the sky, we eagerly put all those layers back on.
We trekked about 4.5 miles including the entire snowshoe trail, which is just a 1.1-mile loop, an unwanted detour down a service road we found indistinguishable from the ski trail, and finally the real ski trail all the way past the Devil’s Orchard. Minimally motivated tourists only ventured down the ski trail for a minute or two past the visitor center. Beyond that, we saw no one our entire excursion. Yeah! While I’m sure this landscape is sharp and amazing in the summer, in the winter it is a stunning study of contrast with dark basalt iced in shimmering snow.
Our second day, we altered course and stayed on Earth. We started off with a visit to the Shoshone Falls viewpoint. (Apparently, this is pronounced by locals as show-shown even though the tribe its name comes from is pronounced show-shown-ee.) Shoshone Falls, however you want to pronounce it, is the most popular attraction in the Twin Falls area. It has a 212-foot cascade that is often compared to Niagara since it too is horseshoe-shaped. It is 45-feet taller than that more famous cascade but has a significantly smaller flow rate. Shoshone’s rim is almost 1,000 feet wide, but water rarely flows across the entire block. Instead, it typically separates into several spouts. Apparently, spring is the best time to see the falls as water is diverted heavily in the summer for agricultural and hydroelectric needs. Although it had an impressive pour, it was our least favorite waterfall we encountered that day as we didn’t appreciate all the tourists. Yes, I know I was one of those tourists, so you can call me out for being a self-loathing hypocrite.
The next cascade we viewed was Twin Falls. Twin Falls, the feature that gave the city its name, hasn’t been a pair since the hydroelectric dam stopped one prong of its 125-foot drop back in the 1930s. Its one side was pumping something fierce that day, but it was a bit sad to see the other all parched and unfulfilled. Like Shoshone, Twin Falls is most impressive between March and early June; water is routed elsewhere after that. Jason liked Twin Falls better than Shoshone because we could gawk at it in peace.
Our last spray of the day was Pillar Falls. Pillar Falls is more spectacular as a pillar than a falls, but I get ahead of myself. First, we must discuss getting to it. Its path starts at the rim of Snake River Canyon then drops about 400 feet in a short distance. Eventually, it gets even wilder through some concentrated trees and a few creek crossings until it reaches a strange island in the middle of Snake River dominated by volcanic stone columns and rock-lined pools. Those giant rhyolite boulders, products of volcanic eruptions, were deposited in the river during the Bonneville Flood some 17,400 years ago, like confetti tossed about by a party popper. Multiple respected trail apps and sites report that only 1.1-miles RT and 45 minutes are required to reach Pillar Falls. However, that is incorrect. Based on our experience and mileage trackers, the route is more like 2.2-2.5 miles RT depending on how far it’s possible to navigate around the island at the time of your visit.
Since this peculiar island typically gets swallowed up by the river until water levels drop in the middle of summer, walking through its bizarre boulder towers and weaving ribbons of water was a rare spring treat. As to the falls, they topple unceremoniously from a small ledge on one side of that island into the river. Honestly, they are inconsequential amongst the colossal, warped stones. Please be aware that drownings happen frequently on this island due to underestimates of the currents in its many streams and pools. Be careful if you visit and use good judgement.
Given that I was still recovering from a broken talus bone and lesion, I hiked backward up the steep sections of the route on our return journey from Pillar Falls to keep from irritating my ankle. Have you ever tried to walk over half a mile backward? It looked silly and felt equally awkward, but it seemed to work. My ankle didn’t hurt much after our trek.
Minidoka National Historic Site is also near Twin Falls and preserves a depressing but significant piece of American history. Minidoka Relocation Center, then called Hunt Camp, became a concentration camp for Japanese Americans in 1942 just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor under the jurisdiction of the War Relocation Authority (WRA). Ten such concentration camps were run by the WRA, and eight others existed under the control of the Department of Justice. We had visited one of the DOJ camps in Missoula, Montana the previous summer and were ready to learn and visualize more about the daily life of those detained under Executive Order 9066 at Minidoka.
Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt in February of 1942 granting the US Army the ability to remove all people of Japanese descent from their homes on the West Coast. Through this order, residents of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of them American citizens, were incarcerated simply because of their ethnicity. There were no court findings or evidence-based accusations. It was purely racial hysteria fueled by Pearl Harbor and underlying prejudice.
Incarcerees were only allowed to bring a suitcase or two of belongings and given just a week to sell their other possessions. Careers, communities, and autonomy were all severed. Can you imagine having your life’s work- your house, your business, your standing in society- taken from you without any evidence of wrongdoing? I can’t. This was such a clear violation of the Constitution of the United States, why was it allowed to prevail? It was even upheld by the Supreme Court at one point.
It was in this frenzy of anti-Japanese sentiment that Minidoka formed. Minidoka housed 9,397 people at its peak in 1943 making it the 7th biggest “city” in Idaho. By the time the camp closed in October of 1945, over 13,000 incarcerees had lived there. It had a 196-bed hospital, two fire stations, a library, multiple schools, a police force, sports teams, theaters, skilled tradesmen, plumbers, electricians, a lumberyard, welders, and auto repair shops. Most of the food required to feed its inhabitants was eventually grown onsite. For instance, in 1944 that equated to 7.3 million pounds of produce. While Hunt Camp became self-sufficient, it certainly didn’t start that way.
Large numbers of people were sent to Minidoka when it was only 75% complete. Amongst the “niceties” not finished for another year was the sewage treatment plant. As you might imagine, poor sanitation led to repeated outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases. What was ultimately finished wasn’t much better. Tar-papered barracks with single-room units housed families and bathroom buildings had no privacy as doors were absent by design.
In the Supreme Court Case Ex parte Endo (1944), the court ruled that the WRA had no authority to detain citizens who were concededly loyal regardless of their ethnicity. This was at odds with their Korematsu v. United States decision, also from 1944, in which they upheld the legality of internment camps. Regardless, Ex parte Endo reopened the West Coast to Japanese Americans who had been detained. The racial wrongs didn’t end there though. After Minidoka closed, its land was given to WWII vets for farming via a lottery system. However, vets of Japanese descent were not eligible for this lottery.
The trail through Minidoka is 1.6 miles, only covering a fraction of the camp’s expanse, but it still gives you a deeper appreciation for life in these centers. I’d highly recommend visiting this historic site to gain a tangible connection to this troubling period in American history.
On our way out of town the next day, we stopped at Centennial Park to see Perrine Coulee Falls, a 200-foot gushing attraction. While the pour itself is pretty, it is right next to a road. This lessens its overall appeal. Therefore, I’d recommend Pillar Falls over Perrine Coulee Falls despite Perrine Coulee’s easier access.
Twin Falls wasn’t what we were expecting. It certainly had falls, but we didn’t come across a single twin. It gave us access to important pieces of history and pieces that looked like they belonged on another planet. Overall, I’d say the area is underrated and worth a visit.
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