About Perrine Coulee Falls
Perrine Coulee Falls was probably the surprise waterfall of the Twin Falls area for us.
It’s said to be nearly 200ft tall (most of which is in freefall).
Corroborating this height figure, when viewed from the bottom, we found it difficult to photograph the falls from close up without some form of a wide angle lens
Perrine Coulee Falls Developments and Flow
Since the weather was unseasonably hot during the two times we visited the falls in April 2013 and again in June 2021, we definitely appreciated feeling the waterfall’s spray due to its high flow.
However, contrasting our warm weather visits, we also came back in early April 2021 where we happened to see that there was still patches of snow and ice.
Meanwhile the waterfall had less flow as I suspected that Southern Idaho might have still been in the start of its Spring thaw.
Nevertheless, based on our limited sample size of visits, Perrine Coulee Falls actually seemed to have better flow in the Summer than in the Spring!
Whether this flow behavior was due to the timing of the Spring thaw or how Perrine Coulee Creek was managed differently than other neighboring waterfalls like Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls, or a combination of both remains to be seen.
Speaking of water management, Perrine Coulee Falls may have actually benefitted from its watercourse’s water management practices.
That’s due to how more irrigation water further upstream tended to be released into its coulee in the Summer.
As a result, this waterfall would have otherwise been seasonal as opposed to the only year-round waterfall in Twin Falls not on the Snake River (and even most of those on the Snake River like Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls can’t have that claim!).
Experiencing Perrine Coulee Falls
The were two main ways we experienced the Perrine Coulee Falls.
One way was from its base, where we got to go behind the free-falling waterfall and feel its refreshing spray.
The other way was from the Canyon Crest walking path, which yielded a gorgeous panoramic top down view that included the waterfall and the Snake River Canyon.
The following goes into each experience in more detail.
Experiencing Perrine Coulee Falls from the Bottom
I’d imagine that the base of Perrine Coulee Falls would be the most common way to experience the waterfall.
We were able to drive to a pullout around a hairpin turn very close to the waterfall (see directions below).
Once we got out of the car, we could hear the falls so we knew we were in the right place.
Indeed, we were able to see the Perrine Coulee Falls from the barricades.
However, we found some informal scrambling paths hugging the canyon wall that allowed us to get onto an informal foot trail that led directly behind the falls itself.
It was from here that we could look out from behind the falls and into the Blue Lakes Country Club at the base of the Snake River Canyon.
The scrambling path continued onto the other side of the falls where we managed to get a different angled view of the Perrine Coulee Falls (once we got beyond the misty and slippery parts of the rocky scramble).
This perspective especially was helpful in the late afternoon that we visited because we were looking directly against the sun when we tried to see it from the hairpin turn.
For all intents and purposes, this waterfall was pretty much a roadside waterfall, but with the additional scrambling we did to see the falls from other spots, we ended up spending about 35 minutes here.
Experiencing Perrine Coulee Falls from the Top
When we were at the base of Perrine Coulee Falls, I couldn’t help but notice there were a couple of overlooks perched right at the canyon rim overlooking this cove.
It turned out that those viewpoints were indeed accessible, but only from the rim of the canyon, which had a separate parking lot mostly for Canyon Crest businesses (see directions below).
This was where we started the walk, which was on a paved walkway that I think might be called the Canyon Crest Walkway.
Facing the canyon, we headed to our right on the paved walkway and followed it for about 10 minutes or so until we reached the first of two overlooks of the Perrine Coulee Falls.
Since we happened to walk behind a handful of businesses, it seemed like we didn’t park at the closest spot to minimize the walking to the overlooks.
Nonetheless, we parked the car here because we had eaten at the popular Elevation 486 Restaurant beforehand so we were at least familiar with the area.
From the first overlook (which I believe was directly behind the Canyon Crest Dining and Events Center or something like that), we got regal views of the entirety of Perrine Coulee Falls as well as the Perrine Bridge further upstream along the Snake River.
We were also able to see the context of Canyon Springs Drive and the hairpin turn in between the bridge and the falls (i.e. the place we reached the bottom of the Perrine Coulee Falls).
Looking down the Snake River Canyon from this overlook, we were also able to better appreciate the depth of the canyon itself as well as the entirety of the Blue Lakes Country Club at the base of the canyon.
We continued along the Canyon Crest Walkway, which went over a bridge spanning Perrine Coulee Creek, and then we swung around to the second overlook.
From that second overlook, we were only able to get a partial view of the Perrine Coulee Falls.
However, we could better appreciate the verticality of this vantage point as the canyon walls here were nearly completely vertical.
A bonus of this second viewpoint was that I could also see a hidden upper waterfall on Perrine Coulee Creek that ultimately would feed the main drop of the nearly 200ft main drop further downstream.
Given the proximity of businesses and residences to the Canyon Crest Walkway, Julie and I shared this path with a lot of friendly locals who were either jogging, biking, or strolling about.
Many of the pedestrians we encountered were pushing strollers and/or walking their dogs.
Given that experiencing Perrine Coulee Falls from the canyon rim was essentially like a suburban waterfall, we took advantage of its position by going for an after-dinner walk or even making a walking loop of about 1.5 miles from our accommodation.
Authorities
Perrine Coulee Falls resides in Twin Falls in Twin Falls County, Idaho. It is administered by the City of Twin Falls. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
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