by Alan K. Lee
Bandon-by-the-sea
Bandon, Oregon, on the southern Oregon coast, happens to have been my home for the first seven years of my life. Although I did most of my growing up in Salem, I consider Bandon my home town as much or more than I do Salem. I go back to Bandon often, most recently in July this year (2025).
History
Bandon was founded almost 150 years ago by George Bennett (often referred to as Lord Bennett), an Irish peer from Bandon, Ireland. In its early days, the economy of Bandon, Oregon was primarily agricultural. Bandon has been known for both its cheese and cranberries since the 1880s. The first jetty was also constructed in the 1880s, and Bandon was soon home to a fishing fleet and a robust shipping industry.
One of the things Lord Bennett brought to Bandon from Ireland was gorse, a thorny, thick growing plant with bright yellow flowers. In Ireland it was used for privacy hedges and property boundaries because it is almost impenetrable. In Oregon it went wild and was one of the state’s first invasive plants. Besides being thick and thorny, it is also a very oily plant and burns readily. In 1936 a small forest fire started from a slash burn that got out of hand, spread to the gorse near the town, and then to the town itself, destroying all but 16 of the 500 structures in the town. The fire decimated the community and all but ended shipping to and from the harbor.
In my youth, Bandon was primarily a mill town, with fishing and agriculture secondary industries. Today, the lumber and plywood mills are long gone. There is still a small fishing fleet that operates out of the harbor, Bandon is still one of the leading cranberry producing areas of the country, and dairy farming is still an important component of the economy. But it is tourism that drives the economy today. The three main tourist draws are the beaches, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, and the old town section of Bandon.
The Beaches
The beaches on either side of the Coquille River are dramatically different. To the north, a wide flat beach stretches for ten miles to the Cape Arago headland, interrupted only by Fivemile Point. The north beach can be accessed from Bullards Beach State Park, Whisky Run, located just north of Bandon Dunes, and Seven Devils State Park, another mile or so to the north.
The beach to the south of the Coquille River is a spectacular collection of sea stacks and offshore islands, including Face Rock and Table Rock, that are part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. This is rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches on the Oregon Coast.
Access can be had from the south jetty area, from the wayside at the end of 11th Street, and from Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint on the Beach Loop Road. Farther south on the Beach Loop Road are other beach access points at Devils Kitchen and Bandon State Natural Area.
Coquille River Lighthouse
The Coquille River Lighthouse is located at the mouth of the Coquille River on the north jetty, across the river from the old town section of Bandon. It was constructed in 1895-96 and began operating on February 29, 1896. In addition to the lighthouse itself, there was a foghorn, a lighthouse keeper’s residence, and a barn. Various improvements were made in the following years, including a boathouse for the lighthouse tender. None of the other structures remain.
In 1939 the Coast Guard took over the lighthouse and deemed it unnecessary. The lighthouse was replaced by an automated light on the south jetty. The lighthouse sat abandoned for 24 years until it became part of the new Bullards Beach State Park in 1963. It was another 13 years before renovation of the lighthouse began, but it finally opened to the public in 1979. In 1991, during Bandon’s centennial celebration, a solar powered light was installed, ending the Coquille River Lighthouse’s 52 years of darkness. Further renovation of the lighthouse was done in 2007. The bottom floor of the lighthouse is staffed by volunteers and open to the public, but the tower and the light are not.
Circles in the Sand
Denny Dyke began creating labyrinths on the Bandon beach in 2011 as part of his ministry, Sacred Journeys. The labyrinths are intended as a form of walking meditation. Over the next few years Dyke created hundreds of labyrinths, and he and a team of volunteers continue to create dozens of labyrinths every year, each unique and lasting only until the next high tide.
The Circles in the Sand labyrinths have become true works of art in the thirteen years that Dyke and his team have been creating them. They have also become very popular events, as have other walking labyrinths in other locations.
Golf
If you’re a golfer, you have likely heard a lot about Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. There are now five full length courses: Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, Old MacDonald, and Sheep Ranch.
All of the Bandon Dunes courses are consistently rated in the top 100 courses in the United States, and the 13 hole par three course, Bandon Preserve, is a challenge in itself. A few miles south of town, Bandon Crossings offers a lesser known, much less expensive, and equally challenging course that should be on every golfer’s radar.
Old Town
Bandon’s Old Town area is loaded with restaurants, galleries, gift shops, and outdoor art exhibits. Art lovers will want to visit Second Street Gallery, and everyone should take in the Washed Ashore exhibit, which displays sculptures and other artworks created entirely from marine debris picked up from the beach. Washed Ashore is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about plastic pollution of the oceans and waterways, and to making positive changes in consumer habits.
Good eats abound in Old Town. Start your day at Bandon Coffee Cafe or Bandon Baking Company. Stop at Face Rock Creamery to sample locally made cheeses and ice cream. Seafood lovers will want to sample the fare at Tony’s Crab Shack and Bandon Fish Market. Pub fare and quality draft beer are both to be had at Foley’s Irish Pub and Bandon Brewing Company. Decent and affordable Mexican food can be had at La Fiesta. And if more upscale dining is what you’re looking for, try The Loft Restaurant and Bar or Alloro Wine Bar and Restaurant.
Accommodations
There are many hotels, motels, vacation rentals, and other accommodations in Bandon. Useful websites include: Visit the Oregon Coast, Bandon Chamber of Commerce, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Trip Advisor, Airbnb, and Vacasa.
There is a campground at Bullards Beach State Park with 103 full-hookup sites and 82 sites with water and electricity. And there are a number of commercial RV parks in the immediate area.
Getting There
Bandon isn’t exactly easy to get to. It’s about a 2½ hour drive from Eugene, three hours from Medford, and 4½-5 hours from Portland. There are no commercial flights to Bandon Airport. United Express does have daily flights from San Francisco and twice weekly flights from Denver to the Southwest Regional Airport in North Bend, but there are no direct flights between North Bend and Portland or other cities. There is no railroad serving Bandon, and there does not appear to be any bus service to Bandon. But Bandon’s remoteness means that it is less crowded than the northern or central Oregon coast, and the spectacularly beautiful beaches and interesting old town make it worth the trip. And, of course, there is Bandon Dunes, if you’re a golf fanatic.
Consider combining a visit to Bandon with a drive south along the spectacular Southern Oregon Coast and through the Redwoods of the northern California coast, one of the most beautiful and least visited sections of the Pacific coast. My wife and I did just that in 2022. Give yourself a week or more for that trip because there is just so much to see and do.
Best Times To Visit
For my money, September and October are the best months to visit Bandon and the rest of the Oregon coast. The summer crowds are gone, the high winds that frequently makes the beaches uncomfortable on summer afternoons are less frequent and the weather is often better in the fall than any other time of the year. But there is really no bad time to visit.
Originally posted July 24, 2018. Most recently updated November 8, 2025.
All photos © Alan K. Lee
That year, I decided to attend the festival only a month or so before it started, so most of the accommodations in 
I found the Wooden Boat Festival to be as amazing an event as I had imagined, and maybe then some. It was quite a treat to see so many beautiful boats in one place. There were more than 300 boats featured at the 2018 show. Many of the owners welcomed guests aboard their boats and all were happy to talk about their boats and answer any questions.
There were sailing, paddling, and rowing races, panel discussions, music, food and drink, films, and dozens of classes on boat designing and building, boat maintenance, sailing, navigation, living aboard, and much more. You could sail on one of several tall ships, try your hand at paddle boarding, or crew on a replica of one of Captain George Vancouver’s longboats from 1792. There was also a boat building competition in which teams endeavored to build boats from scratch in three days. And there were lots of activities for kids.
One of the highlights for me was being able to talk to some of the many boat builders at the festival, and seeing some of the boats that they’ve built. Casey Wilkerson of 
All in all, there was far too much to see and do in a single day. I haven’t been back since the 2018 festival, but I’m hoping to attend the 2023 festival, to be held September 8-10. This time I’ll plan a little farther ahead, stay in Port Townsend, and take in the entire three days of the festival. And by the way, even if you’re not a wooden boat fan, Port Townsend is a pretty cool town, well worth a visit any time of the year.
For more information about the festival, check out the festival’s 
Originally posted September 13, 2018. Edited and re-posted September 20, 2022.
The Quinault Rain Forest lies in the southwestern corner of Olympic National Park, the adjacent Olympic National Forest, and the Quinault Indian Reservation in western Washington. It’s less than a four hour drive from either Portland or Seattle, but it seems a world apart, and more than a little stuck in time. It looks much as I remember it from when I first visited as a child more than a half century ago. Cell phone service and wi-fi availability are spotty. There are no big resorts and no towns of any size. Urban America is nowhere to be found.
The pandemic has kept all of us from traveling as much as maybe we’d like. That certainly applies to my wife and I. Most of our vacation plans for 2020 had to be cancelled. And just when the parks and recreation areas were beginning to reopen, wildfires in western Oregon and Washington shut them down again. But the Olympic Peninsula was largely unaffected by the fires. So, my wife and I decided that the Olympics would be an ideal, and much needed, escape from Portland, and in September 2020 we headed to the Olympic Peninsula. Our first stop was Lake Quinault.
We treated ourselves to a stay at the historic Lake Quinault Lodge, one of the iconic grand lodges of the American West. The original Lake Quinault Lodge was built in 1904. The Boathouse annex was built in 1923. The original lodge burned down in 1924 and the current main lodge was constructed in 1926 on the site of the older lodge. Two additional annexes have been added since then. The existing lodge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Rooms at the lodge are a little pricey, but you’re paying for the history, charm, and iconic nature of the lodge more than for the amenities provided. There are no TVs in any of the main lodge rooms, no fridges, or microwaves, no phones and no cell phone service. But that’s all part of the charm. The Boathouse and the other two annexes offer a few more amenities. Some come with fireplaces, the Lakeside Rooms are billed as family friendly, and the Boathouse Rooms are pet friendly. Our room in the main lodge came with all we needed, a comfortable bed and a view of the lake.
Services at the lodge were limited by the pandemic during our stay. The swimming pool, sauna, and game room were closed. The restaurant served take out meals, but the dining room was closed (outside seating was available and you could eat in the main hall or in your room). However, all services have been restored to pre-pandemic levels.
A somewhat cheaper alternative to Lake Quinault Lodge is the nearby Rain Forest Resort, which has a 16 room lodge, cabins (some with hot tubs), an RV park, and a restaurant. The world’s largest Sitka Spruce grows a short walk from the resort. Other options are the Quinault River Inn on Hwy 101 in Amanda Park, and Lochaerie Resort on North Shore Road. And there are three campgrounds on the south shore of Lake Quinault, and two (one a walk-in) on the north shore.
Lake Quinault Lodge, the Rain Forest Resort, or any of the three south shore campgrounds make an ideal base for exploring the area. Hikers have a variety of options, from the half mile Rain Forest Nature Trail Loop to a loop of about seven miles that takes you to Gatton Creek Falls, Cascade Falls, the Cedar Bog, the Rain Forest Nature Trail, and along the lake shore. Cutoff trails make shorter loops of various distances possible. Other hiking trails are a short drive from the lodge.
Two stops along South Shore Road worth making are Merriman Falls and Bunch Falls. Both are just east of Lake Quinault and both are right by the road, so no hiking required.
One hike that everyone should do is the Maple Glade Trail at the Quinault River Ranger Station on North Shore Road. It is spectacularly beautiful, and like the Rain Forest Nature Trail, it’s an easy 0.5 mile loop. But, unlike the Rain Forest Nature Trail, which takes you through a coniferous forest of Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, and Western Red Cedar, the Maple Glade Trail immerses you in a Bigleaf Maple forest. There the ground is covered in ferns and other low growing shrubs and the maples soar overhead, but in between is mostly open and airy. The effect is like being in a gigantic room carpeted with ferns and roofed with a canopy of maple leaves.
The Maple Glade Trail can be extended by taking the connecting trail to the Kestner Homestead. There you’ll find the Kestner house, barn, outbuildings, and a cool old rusted delivery truck.
There are also much longer hikes that can be taken into the Olympic National Park from the Quinault Valley. The most famous, and probably most hiked, is the Enchanted Valley Trail. It’s a 13 mile hike along the East Fork of the Quinault River to reach the Enchanted Valley, so it is not a casual outing. Most people do it as a 3-5 day backpacking trip. My backpacking days are behind me, but the Enchanted Valley is one of the hikes that I regret having never done.
Originally posted October 26, 2020. Updated and re-posted August 11, 2022.
Originally posted June 30, 2018. Most recently updated November 13, 2025.
The Circles in the Sand labyrinths are created on the beach below the Face Rock Wayside in 
Together with the rock formations at Coquille Point, a short distance north of the Face Rock Wayside, this stretch of beach is truly spectacular, well worth a visit at any time of the year. Combining a visit with the opportunity to experience Circles in the Sand makes for a unique and memorable experience.
Originally posted July 24, 2019. Updated and re-posted June 18, 2022.
Powells Wood Garden is located at 430 S. Dash Point Road in Federal Way. The garden is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Admission is $7 per person (children 12 and under are free). Tickets can be purchased online on the Garden’s 
If you visit Powells Wood Garden, you might also want to stop in at 
While Powells Wood Garden is probably not worth a trip to Tacoma on its own, the Tacoma area has a lot of other attractions, not the least of which are the Museum of Glass and the Tacoma Art Museum, both part of the 
Nearly 300 different forest plants and flowers grow in the park. Blacktail deer, raccoons, coyotes, red foxes, beaver, and more than two dozen other mammals roam the park. More than 70 species of birds have been seen in the park. And cutthroat trout, coho and chinook salmon, and steelhead can be found in Tryon Creek.
The area was saved from development in the late 1960s and early 1970s by a combination of dedicated citizens, the 
Many, if not most, of the park’s visitors come to hike the nearly fifteen miles of hiking and mixed use trails. Some bring their horses to ride the three and a half miles of equestrian trails. There is also a three mile paved bike path running through the park and a paved all abilities trail. The Nature Center, with a friendly staff, interpretive exhibits, a small store, and public restrooms, is a popular starting point for many visitors.
Many of the events and programs sponsored by the park were cancelled or available only online during the majority of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Nature Center was closed and entrance to the park was limited at times. While we’re still living with Covid, most, if not all, of the park’s programs have been restored, and the Nature Center is open again.
Originally posted July 29, 2020. Updated and re-posted May 25, 2022.
Today, the arboretum features more than 100 collections of trees and plants, organized by taxonomy and geography, spread over 189 acres in Washington Park in Portland’s West Hills. There are more than 2300 species native to six continents represented in the arboretum collections.
More information on the arboretum, directions, and parking and public transit information can be found on the arboretum’s website (linked above).
Originally posted April 8, 2020. Updated July 15, 2020 and May 5, 2022.
Both the Stone Cabin and the Manor House still stand. The Manor House now houses the garden’s gift shop and is a popular wedding venue and event space. (The part of the garden south of Johnson Creek, including the Stone Cabin, is currently closed to the public).
Lilla Leach was an amateur botanist and discovered five plants previously unknown to science. One, Kalmiopsis leachiana, is named after her, and the southwest Oregon wilderness where she discovered it is now known as the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Over the years she planted many native plant species, some of them rare, on the estate they called Sleepy Hollow.
There is currently no admission charge, but donations are encouraged and go to support operation of the garden and the garden’s educational programs. You can also register for a garden tour on the website, which is currently the only way to visit the Stone Cabin and the historic Outdoor Kitchen on the south side of Johnson Creek..
The garden is located at 5801 SE 28th Avenue. The small parking lot fills up early in spring and summer, and there is no on street parking on 28th or other nearby streets, so come early if you’re coming by car (and do not park in the Reed College lot across the street from the garden). Or take the bus (Tri-Met bus #19 Woodstock).
Whether you are a garden lover, birder, photographer, artist, or just looking for a beautiful place to spend some time in, Crystal Springs is a place you’ll love. For my money, only the 
The altitude also means that nights can be cold there even in the middle of summer. And in spring and fall, it’s not uncommon to encounter cold weather even in the middle of the day. (The photos here were taken in early May and, as you can see, there was still snow in places). Winters are cold, sometimes very, and can be snowy. Many of the trails are closed in winter. But winter also has its charms. Most of the best photos I’ve seen of Bryce Canyon have been taken when the hoodoos were covered in snow.
The good news is that you don’t have to hike very far into the hoodoos to get away from the crowds. There are a number of loop and out-and-back trails that will get you away from the crowds, some of them fairly easy hikes. The rim trail along the edge of the Bryce Amphitheater can also get you away from the worst of the crowds without actually descending into the hoodoos. And if you don’t want to (or can’t) hike into the amphitheaters, there are mule rides available. Check at the visitor center when you arrive. Some of the trails in the park are also paved and wheelchair accessible.
The only road in the park (other than a section of Utah Hwy 12 that cuts across the far northern end of the park) runs north to south along the top of the Paunsaugunt Plateau from the park entrance to Yovimpa Point and Rainbow Point at the southern end of the plateau. Because the park receives so many visitors in the summer, traffic congestion can be a problem. Consider parking your car at the visitor center or the lodge and taking the free shuttle that runs the length of the park. The buses run frequently and you can hop off at any of the viewpoints and catch a later shuttle if you want to do some hiking or just sit and enjoy the scenery for awhile. Taking the shuttle also makes point to point hikes possible without having two cars.
Besides being a spectacularly beautiful place during the day, Bryce Canyon is also great place to star gaze. It’s far from any light polluting urban areas, and the night skies in the park can be incredible. The park offers both astronomy programs and guided full moon hikes. Check the Bryce Canyon National Park 
The park website is a good place to begin when planning a trip to Bryce. The 
The Covid-19 pandemic is still with us as I write this (Feb. 2022), but the park is open with only a few restrictions. Masks are still required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, in all NPS buildings, crowded outdoor spaces, and all forms of enclosed public transportation. But there are no other restrictions and all facilities are open. Additional details are available on the park website and at 
If you’re not ready to begin traveling again, though, here are links to a short video by 
Originally posted March 20, 2020. Updated and re-posted February 19, 2022.
The name Chelly comes from the Spanish spelling of the Navajo name for canyon, tseyi, which translates literally as “within the rock.” Over time the Spanish pronunciation, “chay-ee”, has evolved into the current pronunciation, “shay”.
Located a couple of miles east of Chinle, Arizona, the monument’s Welcome Center is a good place to start your visit. Pick up a free map of the monument and watch a short film about the monument to orient yourself. The park rangers can answer any questions you have about tours of the canyon, accommodations, the canyon’s history or geology, what plants and animals you’ll find in the park, or any other questions you might have. There is also a gift shop where souvenirs of your visit can be purchased.
Canyon de Chelly is worth a visit just for the spectacular scenery it affords, but it is also an important cultural and historic site. The canyon is one of the longest continuously inhabited places in North America. The Ancestral Puebloans (also known as the Anasazi) first settled in the area some 4,000 years ago. The canyon was later occupied by the Hopi, descendents of the Ancestral Puebloans, and more recently by the Navaho.
Originally posted May 14, 2020. Updated and re-posted February 14, 2022.
Originally posted April 28, 2020. Edited, updated, and re-posted February 5, 2022
The Plaza is an ideal place to begin your exploration of Santa Fe, particularly if you are an art lover, as my wife and I are. The New Mexico Museum of Art and the 
Of course there are plenty of things to see and do in Santa Fe beyond just the visual arts and local history. The Tourism Santa Fe 
Puebloan history and culture is an even more pronounced component of modern day Taos than it is in Santa Fe. The nearby 
Boise is Idaho’s capital and largest city, with a metropolitan area population of around 750,000. It’s large enough to have many of the amenities of a big city, but small enough to still retain something of a small town feel. And it’s a surprisingly modern and cosmopolitan city, blending elements of both West Coast and Rocky Mountain cultures.
Many fine Victorian houses and architecturally interesting buildings can also be found in the downtown area.
Anne Morrison Memorial Park on the south bank of the river, and the Julia Davis Park, just south of the downtown area on the north bank, are large urban parks with a variety of open spaces and tree lined paths along the river.
Boise is definitely worth visiting, and southwest Idaho has many truly unique, beautiful, and enjoyable places to visit, all within a short drive of each other. For more on those, check out my other Exploring Southwest Idaho posts:
The falls are long gone, flooded by construction of Swan Falls Dam in the early 1900s. Swan Falls was the first hydroelectric project on the Snake River. A fish ladder was constructed, but was largely ineffective, and the dam effectively blocked salmon and steelhead passage. That was a different era, and the fish ladder was never made functional. Newer dams were built both upstream and downstream with no fish ladders at all. Electricity was the point. The fish didn’t matter. But it’s a historically interesting and beautiful area, so it’s worth a visit even if, like me, you’d rather see the dam gone.
A new power generation facility was constructed at Swan Falls Dam in the 1990s. The dam’s original power plant is now open to the public, with some of the century-old generators and other equipment still in place. There are also displays depicting the history of the area, and the construction and operation of the dam. We walked across the dam after visiting the power house museum, then drove down the canyon a ways. The road was too rough for the car, though, and we turned around and drove back up to Dedication Point, and then on to Celebration Park.
Celebration Park is Idaho’s only archaeological park. Petroglyphs dating back as far as 10,000 years can be found there. Visitors can learn about the Native American “lifeways” at the visitor center, try their hand at throwing a spear with an atlatl, and explore the petroglyph area on a self-guided walk. There is a picnic ground, and a small tent campground. The visitor center is open from 10:00 to 2:00 daily, except holidays. Check the park 
A short ways downstream, the Guffey Railroad Bridge provides pedestrian and equestrian access to the south bank of the Snake River and the Guffey Butte area. The bridge was built in the late 19th century and carried rail traffic until the 1940s. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Guided tours of the area highlighting the area’s early mining and railroad history are conducted periodically.
Back in Boise, we toured the 
After touring the Thousand Springs area at the beginning of an extended Memorial Day weekend trip to Southwest Idaho, my wife and I took a short side trip to 
Balanced Rock is located about twenty miles west of Twin Falls and ten miles from Buhl, the nearest town. The area around Buhl is flat, featureless farm land that looks more like Kansas than the pictures I had seen of Balanced Rock, which had more the look of the Arizona or Utah deserts. But after a few miles, the road began to drop into a canyon and the view and landscape changed radically.
Balanced Rock is nearly fifty feet tall, weighs forty tons, and is supported precariously by a stem of rock less than three feet in diameter. It is, to say the least, a striking sight. We climbed up to the rock and hiked along the hillside above the rock formations (there’s quite a lot more than just Balanced Rock). It’s not a large area, and the trail is short and not difficult. It’s easy to explore in an hour or so, and I found it definitely worth the time and effort. But you can still get a good view of Balanced Rock and the other rock formations from the parking area if you don’t want to, or are unable to, climb up to them.
Bruneau Dunes
The dunes are impressive and certainly the main attraction here, but the park also has two small lakes, marshes and wetland areas, and open desert areas to explore. The marshes and lakes are full of waterfowl, and coyotes, jackrabbits, lizards, and gopher snakes can be found in the drier areas of the park. In the spring, desert wildflowers are abundant.
For hikers, there’s a six mile loop trail that takes you over the top of the dunes. There is also an equestrian camp and a ten mile long horse trail, two campgrounds, a picnic area, and a visitor center. We didn’t do the six mile hike, but did climb the Small Dune, hiked around the smaller lake, checked out the picnic area on the Big Lake, and, of course, spent a lot of time photographing the area.
Bruneau Dunes is also an outstanding “dark skies” area, and the Boise Astronomical Society has constructed an observatory at the park. On weekends, visitors can view the depths of space through the observatory’s 25 inch telescope.
The weather was better than it was for our Thousand Springs and Balanced Rock visits on the previous day, and the sunshine made for some good photo ops. But it got a little warm on the dunes after awhile, and there were swarms of mosquitoes by the water where it was cooler. Still, it was a nice morning’s outing. The dunes and the small lakes between them are incredibly beautiful, and climbing the dunes was a fun adventure.
Bruneau Dunes definitely exceeded my expectations. The dunes are huge, much bigger than I expected, and the area around them is interesting and very beautiful. The park is small enough that it can be explored in half a day, which is what we did, but there’s enough there to keep you occupied for a few days, at least. It’s also a place where you can slow down, relax, and spend some time just enjoying the views and the peace and quiet, which won’t be marred by the presence of dune buggies and trail bikes. They’re prohibited in the park to protect the dunes.
We returned to Boise that afternoon and spent some time exploring the downtown area and the parks and paths along the Boise River Greenway. The next day it was on to the Snake River Canyon, the Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, and the World Center for Birds of Prey. Click on the links below to view other posts from our trip.
Originally posted June 20, 2019. Most recently updated April 2, 2025.