Box Canyon Springs Waterfall

Thousand Springs State Park / Wendell / Twin Falls, Idaho, USA

About Box Canyon Springs Waterfall

For Subscribers Only. See Membership Options.

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Box Canyon Springs Waterfall was an unusual 20ft waterfall on a high-volume perennial stream emerging from under ground.

In fact, the Box Canyon Springs itself was said to be the 11th largest spring in North America with a flow rate of around 180,000 gallons per minute.

Box_Canyon_071_04022021 - The Box Canyon Springs Waterfall
The Box Canyon Springs Waterfall

Residing in the Earl M Hardy Box Canyon Springs Preserve, it could very well possess the largest volume of water among the many springs comprising the Thousand Springs State Park area.

By the way, the water from these springs have originated from the snowmelt and precipitation runoff in the mountains of southerneastern Central Idaho.

However, instead of reaching the Snake River drainage above the surface, the porous lava plains over which the runoff flows seeps underground and becomes a huge groundwater aquifer.

Ultimately, this aquifer re-emerges above the surface as springs in the Snake River Canyon and Valley, and the Box Canyon Springs is merely one of the namesake “thousand springs”.

Box_Canyon_011_04022021 - Looking towards the head of the Box Canyon, whose springs emerged from underground as evidenced by the fact that all drainages on the surface (including the dry fall) were indeed not flowing!
Looking towards the head of the Box Canyon, whose springs emerged from underground as evidenced by the fact that all drainages on the surface (including the dry fall) were indeed not flowing!

A distinguishing aspect of the Box Canyon Springs experience was that it felt like the most natural of all the springs we got to witness in the Thousand Springs State Park area.

Indeed, most of the other springs had water diversion pipes, fish farms, hydroelectric infrastructure, and other things that detracted from Nature.

However, Box Canyon was as natural as it could be in this part of the Snake River Valley, and for this reason, the 5-mile loop trail to fully experience this quirk of Nature was quite popular.

Experiencing The Box Canyon Springs Waterfall

Even though the loop trail to fully experience the Box Canyon was about 5 miles long, we only needed to hike 1.6 miles round-trip to experience the waterfall.

Box_Canyon_008_04022021 - Approaching the stile before the continuation of the Box Canyon Springs Trail
Approaching the stile before the continuation of the Box Canyon Springs Trail

From the nearest trailhead parking lot (see directions below), we walked a few paces towards the nearest railing, where there was an overlook right at the head of Box Canyon.

It was from this position that we could easily tell that the watercourse responsible for the Box Canyon Springs emerged from underground.

Indeed, if we asked ourselves where the ponds resulting in the high volume stream had come from, then clearly they didn’t come from the dry fall at the head of the canyon.

Once we had our fill of this interesting viewpoint, we then crossed over a stile and followed an obvious trail that skirted the south rim of Box Canyon.

Box_Canyon_039_04022021 - Julie and Tahia descending the railing-assisted trail going into the depths of Box Canyon
Julie and Tahia descending the railing-assisted trail going into the depths of Box Canyon

At about a half-mile from the stile, we reached an unsigned trail junction where a path on the right led to a railing-assisted path going right down into the depths of the canyon itself.

Because the junction wasn’t signed, Julie and Tahia nearly missed the junction before I told them about the descending trail.

Had we continued along the canyon’s south rim, I’d imagine that the trail would eventually loop back into the mouth of Box Canyon before climbing up and arriving at this junction thereby completing the loop.

The descent was steep but not treacherous as it went down a couple of switchbacks before continuing on the main trail alongside the Box Canyon Springs Stream again.

Box_Canyon_099_04022021 - Looking across the profile of the Box Canyon Springs Waterfall from its brink
Looking across the profile of the Box Canyon Springs Waterfall from its brink

Roughly a quarter-mile from the bottoming out of the trail, we then reached the brink of the Box Canyon Springs Waterfall, which can get busy since it’s a logical stopping point for just about everyone doing this hike.

This area provides a profile view of the falls, but just another 0.1-mile further down the trail was a water gauge and a rock that I was able to stand on.

That rock provided a frontal and broad look at the Box Canyon Springs Waterfall, and this was my turnaround point of the hike.

Overall, we spent a leisurely 75 minutes away from the car, but I’d imagine we could have spent even less time without as many stops that we ended up making along the way.

Authorities

The Box Canyon Springs Waterfall resides in the Earl M Hardy Box Canyon Springs Preserve in Thousand Springs State Park near Wendell, which was west of Twin Falls in Gooding County, Idaho. It is administered by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.

Related Top 10 Lists

No Posts Found

Tagged with: thousand springs state park, earl m hardy, box canyon springs preserve, snake river, wendell, idaho, waterfall



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall


Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls



How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps

Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.