Gooding, Idaho, United States
While the focus of my trip to Idaho was the state’s central
mountain region, I enjoy a diversity of scenery for hiking. I was intrigued by
one described in my hiking guidebook on the Snake River Plain near Gooding named
Gooding City of Rocks. Technically the area is called the Mount Bennett Hills
and is of volcanic origin like much of the land forms in southern Idaho. The eroded
landscape looks a lot like the sandstone hoodoo formations in Utah but are composed
of a much darker and much harder basalt.
The described hike I had planned to do was in an area called
Gooding City of Rocks, but a map of the area showed a similar formation called
Little City of Rocks along my route there. I followed the sign onto a dirt road
that dead-ended after two miles at a small parking area. Without a description,
without any signs or maps, and without cell phone service, I started exploring
blindly. The trail turned out to be a fine one gradually ascending through a
dry canyon surrounded by the most amazing and bizarre shaped rock
formations.
I continued up for about two
miles to a point where the trail emerged onto a plateau before turning around.
Next I continued on to my planned destination, a similar but
supposedly larger formation called Gooding City of Rocks that is significantly
more remote, at least 10 miles by decent unpaved road from the main road. The hike here described in the guidebook was
significantly longer but much less well-marked with “route-finding skills” and
bush-whacking needed. Described as an appropriate hike for spring or fall
because of summer heat, I quickly discovered it was not very pleasant to try to
follow a non-existent trail through thorny sagebrush on a very hot day. I abandoned my quest, quite satisfied with
the scenery on the shorter earlier hike.
Between Craters of the Moon and the City of Rocks, I was
feeling in the mood for a motel night. I stopped in a small town named Shoshone,
which I figured being far from tourist centers would have a reasonably-priced
motel. It turned out to be lovely, as
was the small town which has a notable history as an early railroad center for
southern Idaho. Trains and agriculture and pleasant architecture give the small
seat of Lincoln County a very traditional all-American feel, as did the
Manhattan Café, a 1950s style downtown diner that was about the only game in
town for dinner and breakfast.
2025-05-22