Thousand Springs State Park

Last updated
Thousand Springs State Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Thousand Springs 2016-10-13 2361.jpg
Cliff with springs along the Snake River
at Ritter Island
USA Idaho location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Idaho
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location in the United States
Location Gooding County, Idaho, United States
Nearest city Hagerman, Idaho
Coordinates 42°51′28″N114°52′35″W / 42.85778°N 114.87639°W / 42.85778; -114.87639 Coordinates: 42°51′28″N114°52′35″W / 42.85778°N 114.87639°W / 42.85778; -114.87639
Headquarters, Malad Gorge
Area2,000 acres (8.1 km2) [1]
Elevation2,800 ft (850 m) [1]
Designation Idaho state park
Established2005
Administrator Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation
Website Thousand Springs State Park

Thousand Springs State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area consisting of multiple units — Billingsley Creek, Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon Springs Nature Preserve, Malad Gorge, Niagara Springs, and Ritter Island — in Gooding County, Idaho. [1] .

Gooding County, Idaho U.S. county in Idaho

Gooding County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,464. Its county seat is Gooding. The county was created by the Idaho Legislature on January 28, 1913, by a partition of Lincoln County. It is named for Frank R. Gooding, an early 20th Century governor and United States Senator from Idaho.

Idaho U.S. state in the United States

Idaho is a state in the northwestern region of the United States. It borders the state of Montana to the east and northeast, Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canadian border with the province of British Columbia. With a population of approximately 1.7 million and an area of 83,569 square miles (216,440 km2), Idaho is the 14th largest, the 12th least populous and the 7th least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states. The state's capital and largest city is Boise.

Contents

Park units

The state park was created in 2005, when four existing state parks in the Hagerman Valley were merged into a single entity, [2] with an additional unit subsequently added to the complex.

State park protected area managed at the federated state level

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.

Billingsley Creek

This former ranch was purchased by the state in 2001. [1] One feature is the homesite of western author Vardis Fisher. [2] Billingsley Creek Unit totals 286 acres (116 ha). [3]

Vardis Alvero Fisher was an American writer from Idaho best known for his popular historical novels of the Old West. After studying at the University of Utah and the University of Chicago, Fisher taught English at the University of Utah and then at the Washington Square College of New York University until 1931. He worked with the Federal Writer's Project to write The Idaho Guide, which was published in 1937. In 1939, Fisher wrote Children of God, a historical novel focused on the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The novel won the Harper Prize. In 1940, Fisher moved to Hagerman, Idaho, and spent the next twenty years writing the 12-volume Testament of Man (1943–1960) series of novels, depicting the history of humans from cavemen to civilization. Fisher's novel Mountain Man (1965) was adapted in the film Jeremiah Johnson (1972).

Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon Springs Nature Preserve

This 350-acre (140 ha) box canyon has 250-foot-high (76 m) walls. At its head is the eleventh-largest spring in North America, gushing 180,000 US gallons (680,000 L) per minute. [3] There is a 20-foot (6.1 m) waterfall. [1] The 350-acre (140 ha) property was developed by the Nature Conservancy which purchased the site in 1999, then completed its transfer to the state in 2016. [4]

Waterfall Place where water flows over a vertical drop in the course of a river

A waterfall is an area where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.

The Nature Conservancy Organization

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a charitable environmental organization, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States.

Malad Gorge on the Malad River MALAD GORGE STATE PARK, IDAHO.jpg
Malad Gorge on the Malad River
Malad Gorge

Malad Gorge is a 250-foot-deep (76 m) canyon formed by the Malad River, downstream from a 60-foot (18 m) waterfall. This 652-acre (264 ha) day-use unit is off Interstate 84 and offers hiking and picnicking. A section of the Oregon Trail is visible. [1] Rock pigeons, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles nest in the canyon. Yellow-bellied marmots are found on the canyon floor.

Canyon Deep ravine between cliffs

A canyon or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic timescales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream. A river bed will gradually reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water into which the river drains. The processes of weathering and erosion will form canyons when the river's headwaters and estuary are at significantly different elevations, particularly through regions where softer rock layers are intermingled with harder layers more resistant to weathering.

Malad River (Gooding County, Idaho) river in Gooding County, Idaho in the United States

The Malad River is river located entirely within Gooding County, Idaho, United States, and is a tributary of the Snake River.

Hiking Walking as a hobby, sport, or leisure activity

Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails (footpaths), in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word "walking" is acceptable to describe all forms of walking, whether it is a walk in the park or backpacking in the Alps. The word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927. In New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is a popular activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide, and studies suggest that all forms of walking have health benefits.

Niagara Springs

Proclaimed a National Natural Landmark, [5] this area borders the Snake River and features sheer basalt cliffs 350 feet (110 m) high. [3] There are 179 acres (72 ha) in two parcels, acquired in 1971 and 1976. [3]

National Natural Landmark national natural areas program in the United States

The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in both public and private ownership. The program was established on May 18, 1962, by United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall.

Snake River largest tributary of the Columbia River

The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At 1,078 miles (1,735 km) long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake River rises in western Wyoming, then flows through the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, the rugged Hells Canyon on the Oregon–Idaho border and the rolling Palouse Hills of Washington, emptying into the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities, Washington.

Ritter Island

This unit lies along the Snake River between two large springs. [1]

Related Research Articles

Letchworth State Park United States historic place

Letchworth State Park is a 14,427-acre (5,838 ha) state park located in Livingston and Wyoming counties, New York. The park is roughly 17 miles (27 km) long, following the course of the Genesee River as it flows north through a deep gorge and over several large waterfalls. It is located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Rochester and 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Buffalo, and spans portions of the Livingston County towns of Leicester, Mount Morris, and Portage, as well as the Wyoming County towns of Castile and Genesee Falls.

Multnomah Falls United States historic place

Multnomah Falls is a waterfall located on Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, Oregon, United States. The waterfall is accessible from the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84. Spanning two tiers on basalt cliffs, it is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height.

Malibu Creek State Park Wilderness park in Santa Monica Mountains of southern California

Malibu Creek State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving the Malibu Creek canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. The 8,215-acre (3,324 ha) park was established in 1974. Opened to the public in 1976, the park is also a component of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Whirlpool State Park

Whirlpool State Park is a 109-acre (0.44 km2) state park located in Niagara County, New York, north of the city of Niagara Falls. The park overlooks the Niagara Whirlpool on the Niagara River and the lower Niagara Gorge.

Devils Hole State Park

Devil's Hole State Park is a 42-acre (17 ha) state park located in Niagara County, New York, north of the City of Niagara Falls. The day-use park overlooks the lower Niagara River Gorge.

Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls State Park is a 750-acre (3.0 km2) state park located in the Town of Ulysses in Tompkins County, New York in the United States. The park is northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg.

The protected areas of Michigan come in an array of different types and levels of protection. Michigan has five units of the National Park Service system. There are 14 federal wilderness areas; the majority of these are also tribal-designated wildernesses. It has one of the largest state forest systems as well having four national forests. The state maintains a large state park system and there are also regional parks, and county, township and city parks. Still other parks on land and in the Great Lakes are maintained by other governmental bodies. Private protected areas also exist in the state, mainly lands owned by land conservancies.

Shoshone Falls waterfall

Shoshone Falls is a waterfall on the Snake River in southern Idaho, United States, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of the city of Twin Falls. Sometimes called the "Niagara of the West," Shoshone Falls is 212 feet (65 m) high—45 feet (14 m) higher than Niagara Falls—and flows over a rim nearly 1,000 feet (300 m) wide.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area protected area in Southern California, USA

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is located within the greater Los Angeles region, with two thirds of the parklands in northwest Los Angeles County, and the remaining third, including a Simi Hills extension, in southeastern Ventura County.

Big Six Mile Creek Marina

Big Six Mile Creek Marina is a 21-acre (0.085 km2) state park and marina located on the upper Niagara River on Grand Island in Erie County, New York.

Bash Bish Falls State Park

Bash Bish Falls State Park is a Massachusetts state park located in the town of Mount Washington. The park is named after Bash Bish Falls, Massachusetts' highest single-drop waterfall, which lies within its borders. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and is one of several nature preserves in the extreme southwestern corner of Massachusetts noted for their scenery. It is adjacent to the 4,000-acre (1,600 ha) Mount Washington State Forest, as well as New York's 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) Taconic State Park.

Chimney Rock State Park state park in North Carolina, USA

Chimney Rock State Park is a North Carolina state park in Chimney Rock, Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States. The 6,956-acre (28.15 km2) park is located 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Asheville, North Carolina, and is owned by the state of North Carolina.

Colton Point State Park

Colton Point State Park is a 368-acre (149 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the west side of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across at this location. The park extends from the creek in the bottom of the gorge up to the rim and across part of the plateau to the west. Colton Point State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers opportunities for picnicking, hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. Colton Point is surrounded by Tioga State Forest and its sister park, Leonard Harrison State Park, on the east rim. The park is on a state forest road in Shippen Township 5 miles (8 km) south of U.S. Route 6.

Leonard Harrison State Park Pennsylvania state park in tioga country

Leonard Harrison State Park is a 585-acre (237 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the east rim of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across here. It also serves as headquarters for the adjoining Colton Point State Park, its sister park on the west rim of the gorge. Leonard Harrison State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. The park is in Shippen and Delmar Townships, 10 miles (16 km) west of Wellsboro at the western terminus of Pennsylvania Route 660.

Silver Falls State Park United States historic place

Silver Falls State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, located near Silverton, about 20 miles (32 km) east-southeast of Salem. It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than 9,000 acres (36 km2), and it includes more than 24 miles (39 km) of walking trails, 14 miles (23 km) of horse trails, and a 4-mile (6.4 km) bike path. Its 8.7-mile (14.0 km) Canyon Trail/Trail of Ten Falls runs along the banks of Silver Creek and by ten waterfalls, from which the park received its name. Four of the ten falls have an amphitheater-like surrounding that allows the trail to pass behind the flow of the falls. The Silver Falls State Park Concession Building Area and the Silver Creek Youth Camp-Silver Falls State Park are separately listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Zoar Valley valley in New York, United States of America

Zoar Valley is an area of deep gorges along the Main and South branches of Cattaraugus Creek in western New York, United States. The valley is located along the border of Erie County and Cattaraugus County, roughly between the villages of Gowanda to the west and Springville to the east.

Ironsides Island

Ironsides Island is an uninhabited rocky island in the Saint Lawrence River, and part of the Thousand Islands region near Alexandria Bay, New York. It is in both Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. Most of the island lies in the Town of Alexandria, in Jefferson County, while its northeasternmost corner lies in the Town of Hammond, in St. Lawrence County. The island is located near Kring Point State Park.

Pine Creek Gorge

Pine Creek Gorge, sometimes called The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is a 47-mile (76 km) gorge carved into the Allegheny Plateau by Pine Creek in north-central Pennsylvania.

Cottonwood Canyon State Park

Cottonwood Canyon State Park, established in 2013, is the second largest state park in Oregon, encompassing 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) on the lower John Day River. The largest is Silver Falls State Park at 9,064 acres (3,668 ha).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Thousand Springs State Park". Idaho Parks and Recreation. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Thousand Springs State Park Master Plan, Chapter 1" (PDF). Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. August 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Thousand Springs State Park Master Plan, Chapter 3" (PDF). Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. August 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Thousand Springs, Ritter Island & Box Canyon". The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Niagara Springs". National Natural Landmarks. National Park Service. Retrieved January 13, 2017.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.