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Hike to the top of Sinker Butte from the Swan Falls Dam in early spring for a wonderfull view of the Owyhee mountains and the Snake River Canyon. Seven and a half miles round trip with 1000 feet of elevation gain.
To download trail data in GPS Exchange format (.gpx) compatible with GPS mapping software right click on the link below:
To view the trails as a printable topographic map in Adobe Portable Document format (.pdf) left-click on the line below:
To view the trails as a Scalable Vector Graphics File (.svg) left-click on the line below: (See GPS Trail Maps - Scalable Vector Graphics for information on Scalable Vector Graphics)
GPX map by Dave Wissenbach
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Copyright 2005 by David Wissenbach
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Climbing Out of the Snake River Canyon
Homeward bound - photo taken on return, looking south at the end of the rocky descent.
Climbing out of the snake river canyon
Monkey Flower - this plant was about 6 inches high, and growing in a very unlikely location
Orange Mallow. The spring of 2005 was exceptionally wet, and yielded many wildflowers such as this particularly nice plant
Lily
Just below the Rim of Sinker Butte, looking north northeast down the draw.
Birds Nest. The owner of this nest, a little brown thrush, gave this away by flying off about a foot from my foot as I traveled towards the cairn on the east rim.
Lava rim of Sinker Butte. From here the top of the Butte is obvious. As you walk towards the top, note that your field of view is restricted to about 30 degrees by the Butte. When you reach the top, this view quickly changes to 360 degrees, because Sinker Butte is the hightest point for about 15 miles in all directions.
Sinker Butte is a volcano which erupted underwater from the bed of Lake Idaho a million years ago. The top of Sinker Butte provides a mind-expanding view of the surrounding Snake River plain and volcanic features.
Looking southeast from this viewpoint, the Snake river is a thousand feet below.
On your ascent, take a hard left here off of the pump station road onto the barely visible jeep trail.
Top of the rocky climb out of Swan Falls. Remember to turn here on your return -- look for a tiny duck made of four stacked rocks, or you'll end up at the pump station instead of the dam.
Sorry mountain bikers, you're going to have to walk from here. Or continue on around Sinker Butte clockwise to the plateau above the snake river canyon if you are permanently attached to the bicycle.
