We loved seeing Shoshone Falls and nearby waterfalls (Perrine Coulee and Twin Falls) in southern Idaho and Magic Valley in late May when relatively few other people were present. However, one downside of viewing Shoneshone Falls in late May was that the AWOL Kayak Tour to Shoshone Falls was not yet operating. We instead spent a half day kayaking the Snake River near Hagerman Wildlife Management Area in southern Idaho, which turned out to be a surprisingly spectacular experience.
We rented kayaks from Blue Heart Kayaking, which included access to and use of the Blue Heart Kayking launch site and their site near Thousand Springs State Park.
Blue Heart Kayaking offers three experiences for kayak rental: Blue Heart Springs, 1000 Springs to Ritter Island, or a combination of both. We elected the "Explore Both Destinations" experience so that we could kayak to Blue Heart Springs and around Ritter Island.
We were shown a map before we departed the Blue Heart Kayaking launch site and provided with directions how to best see the Blue Heart Springs and circle around Ritter Island to enjoy the Thousand Springs area.
By launching from the Blue Heart Kayaking launch site and ending at Blue Heart Kayking's site at 1000 Islands Resort, we were able to mostly go in the same direction as the river current flow (except for some of the trip around Ritter Island).
The water in the protected Blue Heart Springs area was extremely clear and blue.
We didn't get in the cold water to snorkel, but did take some photographs underwater with the GoPro camera and the water's color and visiblity below the surface were even more spectacular.
The Snake River current in the section we kayaked was not particularly strong, so we did need to do some padding even as we went with the current.
The bay with the Blue Heart Springs was not the only place on the portion of the Snake River that we kayaked that had crystal-clear water.
As recommended to us, we kayaked around Ritter Island in clockwise direction.
It quicky became obvious why this area is called Thousand Springs as we saw many small springs of water in the hillside. Many were so small that we had to look for them while others were large or next to several others and so were really obvious to see.
Minnie Miller Springs is the most spectacular of those at Ritter Island.
Although waterfalls and springs are obvious highlights of kayaking around Ritter Island, there are other beautiful aspects of kayaking around the island.
Lemmon Falls is an obvious highlight of kayaking the Snake River in the area of Thousand Springs Stake Park.
Blue Heart Kayaking shuttled us back from the landing point near 1000 Springs Resort to the original launch site. This was a spectacular kayaking experience with great weather (not too hot, not too cold) in late May. Although we'd like to return to Shoshone Falls to kayak near those falls, kaying the Snake River and seeing Blue Heart Springs and 1000 Springs was fantastic and we appreciated the opportunity to experience this.
"6 Reasons to Avoid Going to Blue Heart Near Twin Falls" is an article that concludes, "Encourage your friends, family, and any tourist you meet to stay away, so it doesn't get too populated and we can continue to enjoy it."
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