Castle Rocks SP - Almo, ID - Apr 2009

After two very enjoyable weeks in Provo, Utah, it was time to begin making our way to Bend, Oregon where we were meeting up with my parents. We had about a week to get there so I did some research on places to stay along the way. My searching happened upon a national park in southern Idaho called City of Rocks and, while exploring it, I discovered a nearby state park called Castle Rocks. As luck would have it, the state park had recently constructed a campground called Smokey Mountain - complete with views, paved sites and hookups. It sounded like our kind of place.

To get to the park, we turned off I-84 a few miles after crossing the border from Utah to Idaho and then we drove about 30 miles through a beautiful valley. The only thing we passed were a couple of tiny hamlets and lots of cattle ranches. The scenery was gorgeous -- green fields ringed with snow-capped mountains.

Earlier in the week, I had called the park to confirm that they were open. Yes indeed, was the reply, however the water system was still shut off because of overnight freezing temps so we would have to fill our fresh water tank at the Visitor's Center in the nearby town of Almo, Idaho before heading to the campground. The Visitor's Center had just opened for the season and, when we asked about water, the ranger had to go turn on the pump to get the water started. While waiting, we checked out these two replica wagons from the pioneer days. The park encompasses one of the trails that was used by early travelers as they made their way from Idaho to California.

After the water tank filling chore was done, we headed up the road a couple of miles to the Smokey Mountain campground. We arrived to find a lovely campground and were tickled that it was totally empty and so we had our pick of spots. All of the sites were paved and set up with water/electric, a gravel patio and picnic table. Many of the sites were tucked into nooks of cedars and pinyon pines, but a couple of them were out in the open with outstanding views. We grabbed the best site (#29) and fell in love with the view.

We had nearly perfect weather for our three day stay. One day, we went to both City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park (only about five miles from each other) and enjoyed exploring the unusual rock formations in the park. Here is Frank overlooking a valley at City of Rocks.

Here are pics of some of the rock formations. This looked like a carefully balanced rock.

Looking up through a hole in the rock at Treasure Rock.

An eagle is what comes to mind when I look at this formation.

This area had recently experienced a late winter snowstorm, so when we reached Emory Peak, it was neat to find that there was still about a foot of snow on the ground. The day was warm though, so we were in shorts and sandals.

The white limbs of a still bare aspen tree looked so pretty against the deep blue sky.

Just my attempt to capture a picture of a cool moment in time. A jet flew by leaving a white contrail against the blue sky. It was the only sound we heard on a very quiet day in a serene setting.

Castle Rocks State Park is in the same area as City of Rocks and has similar rock formations. Here is the main formation -- aka Castle Rock.

We stopped to explore a picnic area in the park and took a short stroll towards the towering "Castle". Here are Frank and the dogs crossing over a stream at the picnic area. We walked a short ways up the trail until we got to the foot of The Castle and then the trail required boulder hopping. That's when the doggies and I stopped, but Frank went up the trail a little further and talked with some of the rock climbers who were about to make their ascent.

The Castle draws rock climbers from all over. We were there in the middle of the week and were amazed to find about a dozen climbers at the park. Of course, it was a spectacular spring day, so I'm sure the weather was a big factor. Here is a shot of one of the climbers going up the smooth face of the rock. Can you see him?
Here he is close-up. There are plenty of "trails" already set in the rocks, so climbers have an easier time making their way up.

After three days, it was time to continue making our way to Oregon.
We left this beautiful setting..... :-)
And arrived here....... :-( Thank goodness, it was just an overnight stop. We're now on our way to Bend, Oregon.