South Central

South Central Idaho covers the broad agricultural country and Snake River canyon stretch in the south-central part of the state. The terrain is dominated by the Snake River Plain — flat, irrigated farmland on basaltic lava — broken by the deep Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls and the smaller side canyons cut by the river’s tributaries. Elevations stay around 4,000 feet across the plain. Twin Falls, Cassia, Minidoka, Jerome, Gooding, and Lincoln counties cover the region. Twin Falls is the largest city; Burley, Rupert, Jerome, and Buhl handle the secondary anchors. Shoshone Falls (taller than Niagara at 212 feet) drops into the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls; the Perrine Bridge spans the canyon and is one of the few places in the country where BASE jumping is legal year-round; Thousand Springs State Park covers the spring-fed Snake stretch in Gooding County. Most trips here center on the canyon. The Twin Falls Visitor Center, Shoshone Falls Park, and the canyon-rim walking trail handle most of the visitor weight; the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument (Pliocene horse fossils) and the spring-fed trout farms in Hagerman fill the western edge; aquaculture and dairy define the agricultural side.