East Central Idaho and beyond

Fall is near in the East Central section of Idaho. The leaves are changing color giving the forest a more vibrant look, golden fields of wheat and hay are being harvested, and digging for famous Idaho potatoes has begun. Driving through the Teton Scenic Byway and Mesa Falls Scenic Byway leads straight through the heart of some of these spectacular scenery.

The 69-mile-long Teton Scenic Byway begins in Swan Valley on the Snake River and runs through the Targhee National Forest, where wildlife can be seen on every corner and the forest shows the beauty of the upcoming fall season. As the road exits the National Forest, it passes the historic towns of Victor and Driggs, where mountain men and fur hunters held their annual gathering. As the road cuts through the rolling hills of the range, to the east you can see the towering peaks of the Teton Mountains reaching 13,000 feet.

Connecting at the north end of the Teton Scenic Byway in Ashton is the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. For 28 miles, the highway runs northeast through the vivid colors of the Targhee National Forest before ending just south of Island Park. Along the way are Lower and Upper Mesa Falls, two of the most impressive waterfalls in the west. These two falls are the only undisturbed falls in Idaho for irrigation or hydroelectric projects. The lower falls are best viewed from the Grand View Campground overlook, where the Snake River squeezes into a narrow gorge that drops to 65 feet. A few miles down the road are the Upper Falls, with a visitor center that has information on the history of the surrounding area. A developed path with a wooden walkway leads to the falls where the view shows the Snake River before the 114-foot plunge, just a few feet from the drop that extends about 200 feet wide. As the walkway winds up the cliff, the view of all the falls is beyond spectacular.

There are times when driving to your intended destination can be just as rewarding as the destination point itself. Driving US 26 around the southern end of the Snake River Range offers breathtaking beauty where the road winds around the cliff faces that run parallel to the Palisades Reservoir with the towering peaks of the Caribou Range as a backdrop. As the highway crosses into Wyoming, it takes a route further north along the eastern cliff faces of the mountains that run parallel to the Snake River, creating a beautiful setting where wildlife thrives in abundance before reaching the valley. east of the Teton Range. Returning to Idaho from the Tetons is the Teton Pass, which is located at the southern tip of the Teton Range. The road reaches an elevation of 8,431 feet where you will have an excellent view of Jackson Hole and the surrounding valley.

A park with more than 300,000 acres located in a great valley with virgin grasslands and forests, where there are no foothills to obstruct the view of the mountains. A mountain range towering over pristine lakes, alpine terrain, the Snake River, and where extraordinary wildlife exists. A park where John D Rockefeller Parkway runs through the east side of the park and ends in the southern section of Yellowstone National Park, making both parks easily accessible. This is Teton National Park, a wonder in itself.

Getting around the Teton National Parks is fairly simple, as the Grand Loop Highway is part of the Rockefeller Parkway, which runs through a large portion of Lake Jackson, and the Teton Highway, which crosses the Jackson Lake Dam and winds closer to the Teton mountain range. with two other scenic roads that diverge. Signal Mountain Road is a narrow two-lane highway that climbs up the mountain at 7,727 feet, where the view of Jackson Lake with the Teton Mountains as a backdrop provides a view that will last a lifetime. Last but not least is Jenny Lake Loop, this one-way traffic road winds through thick lush forest past several lakes with hiking trails before running parallel to Lake Jenny.

For the kids in all of us, the Idaho Falls Zoo is a great outing. The zoo’s selection of animals for our enjoyment is quite unique, with animals from Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. There is a designated area for a children’s zoo with a pet area and next to it is a breed of penguins that have adapted to hot and cold weather. Yellowstone Bear World, south of Rexburg, not only has a children’s petting area where black bear cubs can be bottle-fed, the park has a tour where wildlife roams freely in their natural habitat. Actually, this is the only place that guarantees that one will see black bears, grizzly bears, elk, elk, and deer.

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