Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve

One of the first things we experienced during our first time in Newfoundland was Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve and it turned out to be one of many of our trip's highlights.

The parking lot in front of Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve's Interpretive Center is a little over 2 hours drive from St. John's.

There is a scenic trail that starts at the Interpretive Center and heads to "Bird Rock."

This relatively short and relatively flat hike has been said to provide the "most accessible Northern Gannet colony in North America."

The trail has also been called the "most accessible seabird colony in North America."

It is also stated that "Cape St. Mary's is the most accessible seabird rookery in North America."

The next photograph, taken near Bird Rock, provides an idea of the distance from the interpretive center (building to right of lighthouse) to Bird Rock.

The number of birds on Bird Rock is incredible, but even more incredible is the number of additional active and noisy birds flying around Bird Rock.

Bird Rock lives up to its name.

It's almost an overwhelming experience that photographs do not adquately capture to see and hear all of these aquatic birds amidst such beautiful and colorful scenery.

Visiting Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve was our first activity of our first full day in Newfoundland and I cannot think of a better way to start this trip.

Shoshone Falls

Although the city of Twin Falls (Idaho) is named for its Twin Falls, it is Shoshone Falls that gets most of the attention.

When you see Shoshone Falls for the first time (especially if there is decent waterflow as there was when we visited in late May), you quicky understand why it gets the most attention even with other beautiful waterfalls in the area such as Perrine Coulee Waterfall and Twin Falls.

Although the waterflow at Shoshone Falls was not at its highest when we were there, it was still impressive.

Shoshone Falls is often referred to as the "Niagara of the West" and is actually slightly higher than Niagara Falls. The volume of water is not as overwhelming as Niagara Falls, but it is nonetheless a gorgeous waterfall that does have some characteristics that make it look somewhat like Niagara Falls. Shoshone Falls was far less crowded in late May than Niagara FAlls was when we visited it in October.

Like Twin Falls Park, Shoshone Falls Park is managed by Idaho Power.

Experiencing Shoshone Falls was our primary motivation for this roadtrip to southern Idaho in late May and it did not disappoint!

Twin Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho

Although the city of Twin Falls (Idaho) is arguably best known for the Shoshone Falls, Pillar Falls, and even Perrine Coulee Falls, it is actually named after Twin Falls.

The Twin Falls were formerly two waterfalls next to each other (see how they looked), but is now a single waterfall because the southern waterfall is blocked by a dam.

The Once-Twin-Now-Single Falls can be viewed from an observation area within Idaho Power's Twin Falls Park (Idaho Power also manages the more well-known Shoshone Falls Park).

We were the only ones in the observation area when we visited in the late afternoon on a weekday in late May.

The canyon and Snake River below Twin Falls also provide a beautiful view.

Southern Idaho and the Twin Falls area are blessed with many so many picturesque waterfalls!

Perrine Coulee Falls

Perrine Coulee Waterfall is easy to access from Twin Falls (Idaho) and offers the opportunity to walk behind a waterfall.

As the previous image shows, Perrine Coulee Waterfall is located very near the winding road that descends from Twin Falls down to the entrance to Centennial Waterfront Park. There is a small parking area on the right side of the road (when ascending) in which we were able to easily park in late May 2023 that can be seen in the photograph below (to the right of the red vehicle).

We were able to find this very close parking spot thanks to directions provided in the helpful post "How to Find Perrine Coulee Falls in Idaho".

Perrine Coulee Falls can be seen from Centennial Waterfront Park's parking lot and that is another place one could park to hike to the base of Perrine Coulee Falls.

Perrine Coulee Waterfall is a beautiful waterfall.

What makes Perrine Coulee Waterfall even more desirable to visit is the ability to walk behind it.

Another nice perspective to view Perrine Coulee Falls is from above as shown in the first two photographs at the top of this post. This overlook can be easily accessed via the paved (cement) Canyon Rim Trail.

Perrine Memorial Bridge (Twin Falls)

The I. B. Perrine Memorial Bridge near Twin Falls (Idaho) is an attractive bridge (for Highway 93) set in an attractive landscape (spanning the Snake River and Snake River Canyon) near Twin Falls, Idaho.

First Perspective: At and Immediately Below Perrine Bridge

We saw this bridge from three different perspectives. The first was from immediately under it. There are parking areas on both sides of the highway that crosses Perrine Bridge and they allow relatively walking access down to a large view area near and under the bridge. The following photographs show the bridge and view from this perspective.

Perrine Bridge is one of the bridges described in "13 Tallest Bridges in the United States."

Perrine Bridge is said to be the 8th largest bridge in the United States.

Second Perspective: From Centennial Park

The view of Perrine Bridge from Twin Falls's Centennial Waterfront Park is also outstanding.

You can also view Perrine Coulee Waterfall from Cenntenial Waterfront Park's parking lot.

Third Perspective: From Scenic View Perrine Coulee Waterfall

Another interesting perspective of Perrine Bridge is seen from overlooks very near and above the top of Perrine Coulee Waterfall along the Canyon River Trail.

We didn't see BASE jumping off the Perrine Bridge while we were there, but we did enjoy the beauty of the bridge and its natural surroundings.