Hagerman, a small town in Idaho, ended up being a place rich in life and history that we did not know about until arriving.
The Snake River which becomes accessible at this point from the deep canyon continues to nurture life as it did long ago. It was so valuable to the Shoshone Indians, pioneers, ranchers and minors.
Today all sorts of people including many scientist live and visit Hagerman; still enjoying and utilizing the water, beauty, and history of it.
The perfect camping spot
Right on the Snake River is a wonderful free camping spot called Bell Rapids Sportsman’s Access. It is a large river access and camping area that can accommodate several large trailers, boats and R.V.s. Two fire pits and a vault toilet were also available. But our favorite part was the two docs surrounded by a pleasing natural landscape.
With no formal plans (our preferred way to travel), we ended up staying here for five days.
The local was perfect. The days serene. Birds called and fluttered from the brush flanking the river. The sky was beautiful in it’s changing colors and cloud formations.
It was the perfect spot to pull up a chair, be grateful and just chill.
Stars would flood the night sky, and since it was Fall when we went, the nightly air was mighty crisp.
Really old fossils
Being in Hagerman allowed us to go way back in time. 3-4 million years back to the Pliocene Era. We got the chance to imagine what life looked like then, which was quite different than what it presently is.
It was really quite strange but so cool to think that right under our feet, that this now dry sage brush filled desert used to be lush wetlands, forest, and grasslands.
There used to be saber-toothed cats, mastodons, peccary, horses (known as the Hagerman Horse), and so much more.
So many fossils can be discovered here because of the erosion that happens on the hilly landscape. So rich that a large area has been designated a National Monument.
Also what was supper cool was finding out about the Hagerman Horse and the impressive amounts of intact skeletons that have been unearthed here.
Indians and exploration
Continuing to move forward to present day, we were still impressed to find out about the Shoshone Indians who used to live here. How they depended on the Snake River, and how eventually their life changed forever with the arrival and settlement of fur trappers, miners, and pioneers.
From my understanding the Shoshone Indians were very helpful and nice to these newcomers, but as time went on conflicts would grow. Eventually the government kicked them off the land. Coming from Three Island Crossing State Park right before coming here, we got to learn a lot about this topic.
Standing on the land in Hagerman and looking out at various lookouts, our understanding and knowledge only grew about this past history.
Lots of Water
Hagerman is home to Thousand Springs State Park as well as other natural hot springs you can visit. From the scenic byway you can see the water pour out of the side of the hills. Right away we could understand why the state park was called Thousand Springs.
Thousand Springs is actually divided into six units although we didn’t have the time to visit them all. Something though I wouldn’t mind coming back to do!
We did get to go to Banbury Hot Spring. While there we were delighted to watch a Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle fly above us. Not only were they super close to us, but the golden leaves of the Birch tree made the birds stand out so nicely.
Floating in the warm water and looking up at those trees and birds was so nice and calming.
Remembering Hagerman
I hope more people get to visit Hagerman, Idaho. There are quite a lot of things people can do here (although I only wrote the activities we did). I won’t forget how the kids would wake up early every morning to go fishing, especially Tyler. I won’t forget about discovering where the modern horse came from. Or the night I took a picture of the moon so nicely in line with the tip of a hill. I liked how we continued to learn about the Oregon Trail, and how we conversated with some really nice people here.