Malad Gorge is part of the 1000 Springs State Park in Idaho. This State Park has five different units in different areas, all related to a porous rock formation that allows water to be carried underground, often exiting from the rock formation high up on canyon walls. One area that shows that distinctly is the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway. Malad Gorge is another.
The Malad gorge part of the park is just off of I-84 and has a spectacular view of the canyon that has been carved out by the Malad river. The Malad River flows down a series of stair-step falls and then ends up in a place called the Devil’s Washbowl, and then heads on downstream to empty into the Snake River, about two and half miles away.
“Malad” is French for “sick water”. Apparently the river got its name when some trappers boiled some beavers that they had caught using the water from the river and got sick. They blamed the water, which was likely not the problem, and the name stuck.
The Devil’s Washbowl is named for the “face” that appears near the washbowl’s rim near the foot of the waterfall. Some say it looks like the face of the devil as he is being washed by the Malad River’s water!
Make sure you cross the gorge on the foot bridge to get a fantastic view of the canyon and look for springs near the bottom of the gorge and even high up on the walls of the canyon. There is a self guided interpretive tour that you can take that tells you about the canyon views, some of the plants, wildlife viewing pond and other sites. Picnic facilities are available.
Another fun thing about this area is that it is another place where you can see part of the Oregon Trail. This part, called the Kelton trail, is on the east side of interstate 84. You can actually see the abuttments for the bridge that carried wagons across a narrow and relatively shallow (35-40 feet!) part of the Malad Gorge. If you look closely at the picture below (click on it for a magnified view), you can see the abutments in the middle about 1/3 of the way down.
From 1864 to 1883 this trail was used to carry mail and freight and people between Boise and Kelton, Utah. There was apparently so much traffic that grooves were actually cut into the rocks but despite much searching, Sue and I never found those grooves. Maybe on a different trip.
Like the other State Parks along I-86, this park can be a fun place to take a quick break while you are traveling back and forth across this freeway and do a little exploring. The 1000 Springs State Park includes several other units, one of which is the Niagara Springs State Park, which was completely unexpected. Make sure to read our post about that!
More pictures from the Malad Gorge State Park:
Where to find it:
Kelton Trail Area:
The bridge abutments can be seen just across by taking the above trail to the left at the fork and looking just across the river at the end of the trail (42.867738, -114.847736 if you have a GPS).
