About Perrine Coulee Falls
Perrine Coulee Falls was probably the surprise waterfall of the Twin Falls area for us. While the neighboring Snake River Waterfalls (e.g. Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls) were tampered with, this one seemed to be left to flow naturally (maybe with some additional help, which I’ll get to later). Perhaps the only tampering involved here had to do with all the developments around the falls itself. But the flip side to that was that we got to experience it in a variety of ways that probably wouldn’t have been obvious to us otherwise.
The two main ways we experienced this waterfall was from its base and from the Canyon Crest walking path for a gorgeous top down view. Both ways yielded completely different perspectives, and I’ll describe those separately on this page.
The falls itself was said to be nearly 200ft. Indeed, it was difficult to photograph the falls from close up without some form of a wide angle lens
I had read in the literature that the flow of this waterfall might actually increase in Summer due to the way irrigation canals release their water. If that would be the case, then it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to go behind the falls under the increased flow. It had been speculated that this might be the only waterfall in Twin Falls County that would flow year-round. The photographs you see on this page show how well it was flowing during our April 2013 visit.
We managed to experience this waterfall in two distinctly different ways. So I’ve decided to describe each method (and its directions) separately so we can paint a clearer picture for you about the experience and the logistics of a visit to the intriguing Perrine Coulee Falls.
As for getting to the town of Twin Falls and getting directions from there, see the directions section further below on this page.
Base Of The Falls
We then followed Canyon Springs Rd as it went past a few residential homes and descended into the Snake River Canyon. At the first hairpin turn (fringed by barricades), there were some informal pullout spaces that we used to park the car. Once we got out of the car, we could hear the falls so we knew we were in the right place.
We were able to see the 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 past 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.
Top Of The Falls
From the Blue Lakes Rd and Poleline Rd intersection (it’s a major intersection with a traffic light just south of the Perrine Bridge across the Snake River Canyon), head west on Poleline Dr for about a mile to Washington Street North. Turn right onto Washington St N, and take this road for about a quarter-mile to Canyon Crest Dr on the right. Then, turn left into the arched roadway for Pinnacle Pl, where there’s a large car park area for the local businesses here (including the Elevation 486 restaurant).
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 restaurant before 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 Canyon Springs Drive and the hairpin turn in between the bridge and the 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.
I continued along the Canyon Crest Walkway, which went over a bridge spanning Perrine Coulee Creek, and then swung around to the second overlook. From that second overlook, I was only able to get a partial view of the Perrine Coulee Falls, but I 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 some upper cascades on Perrine Coulee Creek that ultimately would feed the main drop of the nearly 200ft falls.
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 or strolling about (many of them pushing strollers and/or walking their dogs).
As for getting to at least the town of Twin Falls, we took the I-84 east from Boise for nearly 2 hours, then we took the Twin Falls exit onto Hwy 93. After a few miles driving south on Hwy 93, we crossed over the Perrine Bridge and entered the bustling town of Twin Falls.
If the objective is to access the base of Perrine Coulee Falls, then turn right at Canyon Springs Road (I believe that’s the right turn immediately before the traffic light at Poleline Road). The rest of the directions can be continued above.
As for getting to the top of the falls, we continued on Hwy 93 as it eventually became Blue Lakes Road in the town itself. The rest of the directions for that objective is given above.
Finally, for some additional context, the town of Twin Falls was 159 miles (2.5-3.5 hours drive) west of Idaho Falls or 218 miles (over 3 hours drive) northwest of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Inverted U-shaped sweep from behind the falls
nearly 360 degree deliberate sweep starting with the hairpin road, then briefly zooming into the bridge leading to Twin Falls, then panning over to the Snake River Gorge before finally panning on Perrine Coulee Falls
Slow and deliberate left to right sweep from the first overlook before ending at Perrine Coulee Falls with a panning along its flow, then zooming out to show the falls and the arched bridge together
Right to left sweep from the second overlook starting with the bridge leading to Twin Falls, then panning across the gorge towards Perrine Coulee Falls. The movie ends with a slow zoomed in bottom up sweep of the falls, including its hidden upper cascades.
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