What to Know Before Hiking Box Canyon Springs Trail

This is a guest post brought to you by Heather, owner of The Editors Touch and Boise, Idaho local. Heather is also the face of the popular Boise Instagram page @ThatBoiseGirl. Give her a follow and be sure to follow along for part two of Heather’s family’s experience hiking the Box Canyon Springs Trail. Welcome Heather!

Also, while we’re at it, let’s be friends on Instagram and Tiktok!

My family and I love to adventure, and ever since we moved to Idaho in 2020, we have been exploring the beauty of this amazing state.

We are what I’d like to describe as an ‘average adventure’ level regarding skill set, knowledge, and athletic form. We rely a lot on local travel blogs, Instagram posts/Reels, and asking our adventuring friends for feedback and helpful tips. It usually works out to be a huge success.

But our trip to the Box Canyon Springs Trail was not what I’d call a success the first time around.

I want to take this opportunity to talk about our experience.

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What to Know Before Hiking Box Canyon Springs Trail

Box Canyon Basic Information

Box Canyon State Park and Nature Preserve is located on W. Point Road, right near Wendell, Idaho, and close to Buhl, Idaho. There is a pretty good-sized parking lot when you get to the trailhead. Box Canyon is part of the Thousand Springs State Park network. Thousand Springs State Park is a large park with lots of areas to explore. Note that there is a vehicle fee of $7 unless you pay for the annual Idaho State Parks passport, which is $10. This is what my family does each year.

Find this trail on AllTrails here.

If you make a weekend trip to Twin Falls, Idaho, this is a nice day trip.

Arriving at the Box Canyon Trailhead

We felt we were heading off on our road trip to this state park prepared. Online, we had read that this is a great trail to bring dogs, that there is a ‘flat’ ‘easy’ path to the crystal clear pools of water below on the canyon floor.

Finding parking is really easy. There are a lot of parking spots right at the head of the trail. Keep in mind there is a $7 parking fee unless you pay for the annual Idaho State Parks passport. Once parked, we grabbed our gear (we decided to bring one of our paddle boards that fits easily into a backpack), leashed our dogs, and walked over to the lookout to see the beauty we were in for.

Arriving at the Box Canyon Trailhead

We felt we were heading off on our road trip to this state park prepared. We had read online that this is a great trail to bring dogs, that there is a ‘flat’ ‘easy’ path to the crystal clear pools of water below on the canyon floor.

Finding parking is really easy. There are a lot of parking spots right at the head of the trail. Keep in mind there is a $7 parking fee unless you pay for the annual Idaho State Parks passport, which is $10 a year. Once parked, we grabbed our gear (we decided to bring one of our paddle boards that fits easily into a backpack), leashed our dogs, and walked over to the lookout to see the beauty we were in for.

The Lookout

The view from the lookout was spectacular—you can see everything! Right by the parking lot, there is a short trail that takes you to a ledge with a gate for safety since you are literally standing on the edge of the canyon at this lookout. From there, you can see down to the springs, and it is so scenic!

And it motivates you to get to the bottom so you can be part of the lush greenery and clear blue water. I’ve never seen water that blue in Idaho before this trip!

We took some photos and then started to make our way to the start of the trail with anticipation of getting into the cool water below. It was a hot day, and there was zero opportunity for shade on this hike. So be warned and pack accordingly.

Unfortunately, we didn’t learn this information before we came, and we weren’t well prepared for direct sunlight the entire length of our time there.

The Staircase

After the stop at the lookout, before you start on the path, you will be met with a staircase that ‘A frames’ over a fence. The steps are very steep, and it’s very tall. You’ll have a rail to hold onto on either side, but we had our dogs with us, and it took more than a wink and a smile to get them both across. It was a narrow staircase, and our dogs struggled to get up to the top and back down the other side.

My advice? If your dogs are elderly or have trouble climbing, it is best to have them skip this adventure. Had we known about the ‘stair step barricade’, we would have left them home.

The “Flat” Path

Once you are on the other side of the stairs, you’ll find a path ahead that is pretty jagged and covered with boulders, but it is ‘flat’. It lines the canyon, and the views are unmatched!

One thing we didn’t do? Wear appropriate footwear. Since we had read that it’s ‘flat’ and ‘easy’, we wore shoes for water sports since our endgame was jumping in the springs below. When we come back to attempt this again, we will be wearing legit hiking boots/shoes.

So, here is how the path works at Box Canyon Springs Trail: there are two opportunities to get to the pools below.

1. Just a short way from the beginning of the trail, it will veer off to the canyon ledge. Then, you will see a steep switchback with a metal ‘wire’ as a handle to get down. It’s rocky, narrow, and slippery, but from what we could see, after the switchback, you have a straight walk to the pools and green beauty below.

2. Keep heading down the trail along the canyon, and you will come to another pool farther down, about a mile, but much easier to stroll on.

The Water Below

Sadly, we didn’t make it to the water below. And my writing this post isn’t to discourage people from going to Thousand Springs State Park / Box Canyon State Park, it’s to INFORM. 🙂

We left Boise to start the ‘just under’ 2-hour drive to Wendell, ID, with what we felt was solid information.

Also, we packed water, towels, snacks, our dogs, kids, water shoes, a positive attitude, and a smile from ear to ear. We were ready and felt educated to do this adventure as a family. Then, we realized partway through that we were not prepared and would need to head back to the car.

A few things we learned that I feel would highly benefit another family are:

Dogs – Unless you have highly athletic trail dogs who listen to you, this isn’t really a good hike for dogs. It’s VERY hot—our dogs layed down panting on the way back and had a hard time on the stairs—I can’t imagine if we had tried to walk them on a leash down the steep switchback.
Is this trail really flat? – While Google will tell you this is a flat / more simple hike, it’s filled with boulders and rocks. We came prepared for water play, but what we needed to do was come prepared for a major hike with the right shoes on our feet.
Sunlight and shade – There is ZERO opportunity for shade, and the heat here in the summer is intense. You will need proper sunshade attire like hats, long-sleeved shirts, a parasol, and sunscreen! From what we could see from above, even when you get down to the water, there aren’t shady spots, but, since we didn’t make it down, that’s more of a guess than an actual fact.

In conclusion

Again, this post isn’t to discourage anyone from experiencing the extreme beauty of this canyon. Our family is going back in just a few days, armed with knowledge from our first attempt that unfortunately ended in a ‘fail.’ We are so excited to make it all the way to the springs below and have an amazing time! Here is a reel of our family finishing the hike, and I’ll link our upcoming blog here once we do as well!

I hope my post and experience will help those families or individuals who are excited to visit Box Canyon Springs Trail be better prepared!