How's the drive thru State last week in April (Boise: college, ferry)

[Tom Tom]

Will be driving thru the State on I-84 the last week in April. How is the weather that time of year. Also is this an easy drive?
Thanks for your help.
Tom Tom

[Torrie]

Weather can vary from one end of the state to the next. You have a better chance of snow the more east you get once you past Boise. Also you could run into some thunderstorms that time of year. Hard to say until we get closer to that date. We're in an El Nino pattern right now which seems to have brought us more snowy/rainy weather for the time being. So it could be stormy or it could be sunny hard to say.

[Lacerta]

The stretch of road from East of Boise to the Utah border gets fairly strong cross-winds at times. There usually isn't much, if any, left for snow in April, so barring a very unusual year, that shouldn't be an issue.

I drove that road a couple of times each month in the spring and fall for the 4 years I was in college, and its a really easy drive except when it is exceptionally windy. One thing to be aware of, is that it can be a long way between rest stops and/or towns.

[twinprism]

I second the opinion about the winds.

I-84 is also about the most boring drive in Idaho, though there are things to see and do just off the road you'd never guess it from the interstate. I'd recommend a stop at Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls in the Snake River Canyon. If you are lucky, and it was a good winter, you will catch it when there is high flows before water is diverted for irrigation and it is really spectacular. I think it's like $3 to drive down to the falls and well worth it.

Shoshone Falls : vistidaho.org

Other things are Hagerman Fossil Beds, Thousand Springs, Malad Gorge, Bruneau Dunes, Three Island Crossing Museum about Lewis and Clark near Glenns Ferry.

Check out the South Central and South Western Idaho links on this page for more info. Places To Go

[Torrie]

I've got some great shots of Shoshone Falls that I'll be happy to share if I can find them. We went a couple of years ago when the falls were really going- absolutely beautiful and worth the stop. It's driving me crazy that I've misplaced them-I promise to post here when/if they pop up. I believe the falls are taller than Niagara Falls- maybe the locals there can chime in on that one.

[jufrbo]

The Falls

[Lacerta]

Ooh, great photos.
and thanks for that link TwinPrism, I haven't seen that one before.


Yes, the drive on I-84 can be a bit boring, but if you have any geology interests, its fun to know that you follow the Snake River through a Basalt valley created by the movement of the continent over the Hot Spot that now sits under and creates Yellowstone.

And I had forgotten about Bruneau Dunes. That just emphasizes the fact that it can get a little breezy. Bruneau contains the largest single sand dune in all of North America.

[Torrie]

Nice shots Justin! Gave you some points for your efforts!

[jufrbo]

Originally Posted by Torrie

Nice shots Justin! Gave you some points for your efforts!

Ahh, the difficult task of copying and pasting google.

[Torrie]

What?!!!!! You mean you didn't take those yourself?! Had me fooled! Gimme those points back! LOL!