Stop #37: Idaho Falls Luxury RV Park, Idaho Falls, ID
- Denisse Storti
- Jul 1, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 3, 2024
Following Las Vegas we had to tackle two back to back travel days in order to make it to Idaho Falls. To make it more bearable we planned a few sightseeing spots along the way starting with Cathedral Gorge State Park which is two and a half hours from Vegas. This was a super fun break for all of us. We entered the park with our RV but unhitched soon after at the first opportunity we saw which was a small turnout area with an automated pay station. Was it a parking lot? Probably not, but we parked on the side to allow traffic to flow through and since we knew we wouldn't be staying for too long so we went for it. Some parks have narrow winding roads and we felt better venturing off without the RV. We drove over to the Moon Caves area - in hindsight we could've parked there with the RV just fine - which was a pretty cool spot even from the car. But we did want to stretch our legs and let the kids run around so we all got out to explore.
We didn't know too much about Cathedral Gorge so the spire like formations we saw here had us in awe. As we got closer we noticed a few entrances to what turned out to be slot canyons. We ended up exploring a few of these and the cool thing was that all of this did not require a long hike to get to. These were all right off the parking area. The temperature inside the slot canyons was significantly cooler than it was outside giving us a nice break from the heat. The colors within the slot canyons and the view as you looked up were amazing. We explored and played around for a while before heading back out.
Next, we drove on towards Great Basin National Park with hopes of visiting the Lehman Caves. The Visitor Center for the park was closed but the one for the caves was open so we drove straight over. Unfortunately, since this wasn't peak season they only offer a few tours per day and we had just missed the 3p tour which was the last of the day. We stuck around the visitor center because the ranger in charge was sharing some cool facts about the area. As a result, we learned something and the trip wasn't a total waste.
We didn't have a site booked for that night but rather planned to find a place to boondock at before continuing our drive the next day. We drove for a while before we found a safe place to park but we found one right on time to catch the sun setting behind the mountains. Thankfully we've always felt safe at the places we've boondocked but these have always been remote places. Most of the weird boondocking stories we've read about have taken place at parking lots in the suburbs. Anyhow, I digress... we had a pleasant night and the next morning we continued our drive towards Idaho Falls.
We booked at Idaho Falls Luxury RV Park. Some campgrounds are quite bold with their names, setting themselves up for disappointment from their guests. While a very nice campground and fairly new, it was far from luxurious. There were no special amenities besides pickle ball courts, a nice office/lodge for guests to lounge in, a laundry room, private bathrooms, and free cute bicycles for guests to use on the adjacent bicycle path that takes you along the river to the falls. BUT, a big plus, we did have paved sites which if you've been RVing for a while it's quite the luxury - oh, there you go! ;) The campground is located on what seemed like a not so nice part of town... an industrial looking area across from the railroads and an old train covered in graffiti. However, once we got through the security gate we did feel safe within and we were a short 5-10 minutes from restaurants and stores in town.
We ran some errands on the day following our arrival and then I was off to a girls trip to Nashville. I have not been away from the kids much so it's still very hard for me to leave but they had the best time with Paul and well, I had a blast. lol I'll maybe write about that trip separately because we did hit a lot of cool places during the three days we were there. After dropping me off at the airport Paul and the kids ended up visiting a Yamaha store on their continued to find dirt bike rentals or lessons. They ended up getting the contact info of a person that owned a track and gave lessons. The owner happened to be at the track at that time getting it ready for races on the following day and while told them that he only gave lessons for folks with their own bikes, he did offer two if his bikes for them to use that afternoon for $50. This turned into an unexpected fun adventure for them. Proving once again how it always pays off to talk to the locals.
A couple days later they also rented two side by sides - the place they rented from had small ones for kids and drove around on the local trails. The kids wore their dirt bike gear and had a fantastic time taking turns driving around. By the time I returned on Sunday, everyone was tired from all the fun they'd had and I was refreshed from some much needed time with the girls.
The next day was a travel day. We truly didn't do much sight seeing from Idaho Falls but not much came up for that area either. On to the next...
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