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Swan Falls on the Snake River is part of the Birds of Prey National Conservation area. The map shows hikes or mountain bike rides to the Wees Bar Petroglyphs and to Celebration Park. On a late January visit to this area we saw Cormorants, Greebs, Canadian Geese, Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, and Ravens, and heard the beautiful descending song of the Canyon Wren. Swan Falls is at its best in late winter and early spring. Other times of the year can be hot and dusty.
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 S. Wissenbach
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Birds of Prey National Conservation Area
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BLM Swan Falls Page
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Idaho Power Swan Falls Recreation Page
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GPS Trail Maps - Celebration Park
This road to Celebration Park is closed at the high-lift pumping station. Mountain bikes and hikers can continue on the Snake River Trail to Halverson lakes or to Celebration park.
This route to Wees Bar crosses the dam, heads south briefly, and then climbs to the the shelf just above Swan Falls Dam, and heads north to Wees Bar. Wees Bar is the site of petroglyphs, and the ruin of what I've been told is an old mission. The trip from Swan Falls to Wees Bar makes an excellent springtime mountain bike adventure or hike. The total distance, out and return, is 12 miles, with an elevation gain and loss each way of about 500 feet.
The jeep trail from Swan Falls to Celebration Park was closed in 1996 to become a non-motorized trail. The trail leads downstream on the right bank from the road closure at the old pump station past the rock hermit house on the Snake River and from there to the trail head at Celebration Park.
The Snake River Canyon was formed just 15000 years ago when Utah's lake Bonneville drained through hear in one violent week. The canyon walls have been crumbling ever since.
The mouth of Sinker Creek is a green oasis in this dry land. This is not a trail, just a route which roughly follows cow paths and game trails and, on each end, the access roads for high-lift pumping stations. (This path is recommended only for people with strong angles in good physical condition.) We had bicycles, but ended up carrying these for several miles. On the day we logged this, we continued on up Sinker Creek to the Oregon Trail but discovered that the ranch at Sinker Creek and the Oregon trail had posted the land and padlocked the gate. (Just off the Oregon trail there is a monument to the pioneers who lost their lives, presumably at this place.)
We carried our bicycles for much of this trip. Next time we will leave the bikes at home.
Steep road leads out of the Snake River Canyon into the network of Owyhee County farm roads. Follow this road part way out of the canyon to climb Sinker Butte.
Rock House. You can find out who lived here at the Celebration Park visitor's center.
Just below the bench from the Petroglphs towards the river river are the ruins of a rock structure. An anonymous stranger in a long black robe told me that this was the old mission. Although I've never seen any documentation to back this claim, I didn't dare to doubt him.
The rock in the Snake River canyon is a curious mixture of Basalt and Sandstone. At this point below Sinker Butte, the escarpment is almost entirely sandstone, but the 800 foot high canyon walls are usually Basalt, with various layers of pumice and sandstone mixed in.
Oregon Trail. Just off the county road, on the wrong side of the no trespassing sign off the road in the field below is a tribute to the Oregon trail pioneers who lost their lives. The actual location of the Sinker Creek Massacre is not known.
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Never Defeated - Oregon trail history in the Devil's Backbone Area
Sinker Butte. To get to Sinker Butte, start on the Wees Bar trail, but follow the pump station road up the side of the cliffs and out of the Snake River Canyon. Then hike cross country to this amazing view of the Snake River Plain and Owyhee Mountains.
Fisherman's Point. This point just downriver from the Birds of Prey overlook was the site of a ford across the river to the Priest ranch, according to the USGS map!
Sinker Creek.
To avoid climbing an extra 300 feet on your return to Swan Falls, look for a small Cairn marking the cow trail back to the Ferry site.
Somewhere along the cow path, I took this photograph of a purple basalt rock with an incredible variety of Lichen. This photo was taken in late January after a moist period of unseasonable warmth.
The Swan Falls power station was built around 1900 to power the mining town of Silver City in the Owyhee mountains. The old power station is now a museum run by Idaho Power, presently open only by appointment. The new power plant is under the building on the right bank. Access to trails on the South side of the Snake River is accomplished by walking across the catwalk on the upstream side of the building. (Years ago we long-time residents of Idaho walked through the live power station to access the trails!)
The petroglyphs at this site have been variously described as being from 800 to 15000 years old.
Looking upriver towards the mouth of Sinker Creek. Sinker Creek was supposedly the site of a massacre of immigrants on the Oregon Trail. The usual route on the Oregon trail was to the north through Boise, but two crossings of the Snake River could be avoided by taking the South Alternate of the Oregon trail.
Mark Vieselmeyer and Don Fasen try to decipher the petroglphys.
Priest Ranch. The BLM purchased the Priest Ranch and incorporated the property into the Snake River Birds of Prey Area. The buildings have been removed. All that remains are a few power poles, remnants of the irrigation system, and the orchard. The photograph is the orchard in early bloom March 15, 2003.
