Considering Moving to Idaho Falls

[Vegas-to-?]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

Not thinking you really want to be ON the river as she's overflowed her banks more than once in the 20 plus years we've lived here

Cleosmom, can you tell us more about the river overflowing its banks? Were any homes threatened, bad flooding? Is it a big concern for people who live in Idaho Falls like it is for people who live near rivers in the midwest?

[banjomike]

Hi, Vegas...
I've lived here all my life. The Snake does overflow it's banks sometimes, but there only time there was major flooding was when the Teton Dam collapsed in 1976.
The flood only threatened homes that were close to the river.

Regular spring overflows will rise up to lawn level on a few homes that lie right on the river banks. Most of these houses are outside the city limits to the north and south of town, and it all depends on the location of the home. Much of the river has a 3-4 foot high bank on the river's east side and a much lower bank on the west side, but in town, much of the west riverbank is green belt walkways and park land.
There are some canals located very close to the river and run parallel to it, and they catch most of the overflow, so it never spreads out very much.
Ironically, north of the city limits, the river's east bank is the lower one. The Snake is a mighty twisty river- that's how it got it's name.

Upstream areas in Jefferson County and northward also have similar overflow areas, but the only major flood in my lifetime was the dam failure, and that was a once in a lifetime event. I have never seen the Snake so high as then, and even then, Idaho Falls did not get nearly as much water as northward, where much of Rexburg, Sugar City and several other small towns were devastated by the flood. The river channel here in town is both broad and deep, and much of the channel is bounded on both sides by basalt and lava rock flows that run the length of the river.

We don't have any midwest flood events out here. The Snake is the largest river by far in the state, and the others simply don't carry enough water to do major widespread damage. They all flow through mostly very lightly populated areas as well. It's the rapids, not the floods, that folks out here have to be wary of.

[Vegas-to-?]

Banjo, thanks for the informative post on the snake river! Do many people enjoy boating on the snake river as my dad has a 25' sailboat? Any marina type facilities along the river? Any info is appreciated!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Vegas-to-?

Banjo, thanks for the informative post on the snake river! Do many people enjoy boating on the snake river as my dad has a 25' sailboat? Any marina type facilities along the river? Any info is appreciated!

Can't sail on the Snake- it's way to fast- but the Palisades Reservoir is good for smaller sailboats and Hobie Cats. A bunch of folks put sailboats into Yellowstone Lake during the summers as well. I sailed Palisades once with a friend who had a 16 footer, and had a great time.

Powerboats, jet boats and jet skis are all good on the Snake, and a lot of fishermen use Mackenzies and river dories. A lot of Avalon pontoon boats, too. The Snake has several stretches of whitewater along it, and some of the rapids are notoriously brutal. It's not all white water like the Middle Fork of the Salmon is; I know folks who use canoes and other small boats on it.

But in comparison to the Madison, the Gallatin, the Yellowstone, Clearwater, Salmon, and even the Missouri headwaters, the Snake is much bigger, deeper, and faster along her length. She's the Mother of Waters out here, and makes the Colubumbia the mightiest of all at their confluence, and was the last great barrier river of the Oregon Trail.

[Vegas-to-?]

Ok, thanks for the geography lesson! :-) So where, in your opinion, would be the best place to sail near Idaho Falls (without getting caught in white water rapids)?

[banjomike]

Definitely Palisades.

It's only about an hour S.E. of Idaho Falls and has several excellent spots with boat ramps.
It's a pretty good sized reservoir that's surrounded by mountains on both sides, so beating against the wind can be tricky, but it's long enough to get a good run going when the wind is right. I'm sure it would also be excellent for sailboards.

There is always a good number of powerboats and fishing boats on it, so getting a tow if the wind dies usually isn't a big problem.

It doesn't have any white water. The South Fork of the snake begins in Yellowwstone Park, winds through the Tetons in a canyon, then the country opens and flattens for a ways right at the Wyoming/Idaho state line at Alpine.
The Palisades are a series of bluffs that narrow as the Snake's canyon re-develops. All the whitewater is either in Wyoming or downstream from the dam. There's not much whitewater in the downstream canyon; it's a great fishing boat stream. There are some stretches of whitewater just north of I.F. and between I.F. and Blackfoot. The big whitewater stretches are after the river turns west, between Blackfoot and Twin Falls.
From Palisades to I.F. is only about 70 miles by road, but it's almost 200 miles by river. There isn't much of a straight stretch in the Snake in this neck of the woods.

It's stunning country there in the Palisades..

Like Idaho Falls, there is a natural narrow point there, and that is where the Palisades Dam was built in ca. 1950, forming the reservoir. Before the dam was built, there was a narrow cable footbridge across the river that made the only crossing for almost 80 miles. It was large enough to hold a small band of sheep or cattle, but couldn't hold a car.

My father and grandfather used to drive my grand-dad's sheep over it during the early summer to graze the sheep on the Targhee Natl. forest. I have a picture of my mother holding me as a baby standing on the bridge, and it was really high, long, shaky, and scary looking.
My grandfather suffered from severe vertigo, and family lore has it that he had to blindfold himself and hang onto his horse's tail to be able to cross the river on it.

There is now a roadway on top of the dam, and the bridge is long gone. The road on the west side of the dam is pretty scary in it's own rights; narrow, steep and rough dirt, with no place but down if you get into trouble on it. More than one over-confident dirt bike rider has ended up in the reservoir from tackling it way too fast. The road dumps out in the Grey's Lake area in the middle of the Blackfoot mountains. Grey's Lake is actually a marsh.

Bear Lake, about 100 miles south of I.F., close to the Utah state line, is probably a good sailing lake, but I've never sailed there. Yellowstone Lake is by far the largest of all, and is definitely good sailing. There is a full marina at the Lake campground, and folks put their boats in for the summer up there. Catching the huge rainbow lake trout is encouraged, as they're trying to cull the rainbows out. Rainbows live in the deeper waters and eat the cuts.

The native cutthroat trout are losing out to the introduced rainbows, and both the Forest Service and Idaho Fish & Game are both actively culling the rainbows. They grow HUGE in Yellowstone. The cutthroat trout has been discovered to be a key species in Yellowstone; bears, coyotes, wolves, lions and bobcats all eat the cuts, but can't get the rainbows. German brown trout are also an introduced species, but they live in the same waters as the cuts and don't prey on them like the rainbows.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Vegas-to-?

Cleosmom, can you tell us more about the river overflowing its banks? Were any homes threatened, bad flooding? Is it a big concern for people who live in Idaho Falls like it is for people who live near rivers in the midwest?

Thanks to banjomike for stepping up and answering the question for me. I was actually in Vegas when you asked

I've only had two sips of coffee, but I thought Palisades was NE of us??

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

Thanks to banjomike for stepping up and answering the question for me. I was actually in Vegas when you asked

I've only had two sips of coffee, but I thought Palisades was NE of us??

It is NE

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Mtn. States Resident

It is NE

Nope. As the crow flies, it's almost a straight line from Blackfoot east to Palisades. Blackfoot is 25 miles south of I.F.

I know it doesn't seem that way, but Palisades is straight due east from the Bone area. The Bone Store is just northwest, but the 'heart' of Bone is south of the store.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Nope. As the crow flies, it's almost a straight line from Blackfoot east to Palisades. Blackfoot is 25 miles south of I.F.

I know it doesn't seem that way, but Palisades is straight due east from the Bone area. The Bone Store is just northwest, but the 'heart' of Bone is south of the store.

While doubting no one, now I must look at a map in order to get a visual.

Well, I'll be dipped!!! Quite interesting new knowledge as I've driven through there many times and never knew it was SE. Thank you for clarifying