Saturday, September 26, 2009

Island Park, Idaho

Island Park 1

After our two weeks in West Yellowstone we moved 22 miles west to the Red Rock RV Park near Island Park, Idaho. To call Island Park a town seems like a misnomer; it is a 20 mile long strip of land on Highway US 20. It has gas stations, RV Parks and various lodges spread out over 20 miles. The nearest grocery store or anything else is back  in West Yellowstone.

Red Rock RV Park is 5 miles off of Highway 20 down a secondary road and is bordered by a cattle ranch, a horse ranch and open country. I don’t believe we have stayed anywhere that was so quiet.

island park2 The view East

island Park 3 The view North.

P1020057 The view West

P1020059 The view South

We came to Red Rock RV Park for several reasons. Two Fulltime RVer couples (Gordon & Juanita and Mel & JoAnn) we met in Soldotna, Alaska last year, were here at Red Rock early in the season this year and they liked it so much that they are planning to return for the entire 5 month season next summer. When we heard this it made us very curious about what was here that attracted them  so much. Another reason we came to Red Rock is that the nightly cost is less than half of what we paid in West Yellowstone or in Grand Teton. It is good for the budget to offset the cost of those more expensive areas. We also felt that with our time at Mt. Rushmore, Grand Teton and Yellowstone that we have been in “vacation” mode; we needed to sit awhile, rest and remember that we are retired fulltime RVers and we don’t need to be in a hurry. We used our time here to sort through and edit the hundreds of photos we took in Yellowstone, bring the blog up to date, I found time to read two books and Kathy had the most quality “beading time” that she has had in a long while.

This area of Idaho nestled in the Rockies is well known for several large and apparently very good fishing lakes and Big Springs. Big Springs produces 120 million gallons of water a day and is the headwaters of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River.

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The spring supports huge rainbow trout which are protected from fishing.

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Big Springs also has a resident Muskrat

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Slideshow

6 comments:

  1. Good to hear you are having some restful times. Reading and beading, cool! Raider sure loves his neighbors too! I can't get over how clear the water is. Bet the air is just as nice!

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  2. I am amazed at how clear the water is! And your pictures are awesome!

    Liz
    http://ninnysnotesblog.blogspot.com/

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  3. Hi Kathy and Grant,
    You did it again!!!!! Thanks for sharing. The color of the rocks on the water is gorgeous they almost look purple. How did they look in person. That water is clear enough to drink. I bet that rainbow trout would have been tasty!!!!
    Beautiful RV park too,
    Hugs
    Cecilia

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  4. Great pics as always....but Kathy, where's my cowboy??? LOL

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  5. Great pics and what a campsite.......just rub it in....

    and where is Chelle's cowboy....

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  6. Red Rock looks like the perfect place to sit and 'recharge'!!

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