Last Saturday, I happened to be passing through the Magic Valley so I opted to visit the Jerome County Highpoint, a very obscure spot north of I-84. While in the area, I decided I would visit a couple of other nearby summits as well.
I approached from the north, heading east from Shoshone and through Dietrich on ID-24. At the signed Sid Junction, I turned south for Sid Butte. This is a mostly good road which leads all the way to the top of this unremarkable butte. A car can probably make it all the way but high clearance could be helpful near the end. After walking around the summit for a bit, I returned back to the highway and continued east toward the Kimama rail siding. From Kimama I mostly followed Ken Jones' directions to the Jerome County Highpoint, although I deviated and took the 600 W Rd south instead because it is paved. These directions are still great and took me right to the highpoint!
The highpoint is marked by a cairn and has no register. It's an interesting spot on the edge of an ancient volcanic crater with expansive views of the Snake River Plain. I walked around the area quite a bit, taking photos and enjoying the nice weather. Despite seeing a rattlesnake on the approach road (about a mile from the highpoint), I didn't see any while on foot. Yay for that, since this area is notorious for them in the warmer months. My final stop was Kimama Butte, which is very close to the Jerome County Highpoint. This is your typical butte with a benchmark and several radio towers on top. Good views of the area but lots of RF exposure!
In short, while these are unimpressive summits with little hiking involved, I enjoyed the nice day exploring a seldom-visited part of the state!
Jerome County Highpoint Pictures!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
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4 comments:
Jerome pictures appear to have gone AWOL.
Thank you for letting me know. It should work now!
That is some pretty flat looking land. How do you tell which pile of rocks is the cairn? Good thing you said it was in the foreground as I would have thought it was just another pile of rocks.
It's more obvious on the ground than it is in the photo. But the highpoint is otherwise unmarked and the hypothetical passer-by would never know the significance of the spot.
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