St Charles Canyon

St. Charles Canyon above St. Charles, Idaho is a rather scenic canyon. The paved road leads up to Minnetonka Cave which I was thinking of doing this trip, but we had our dogs with us so we couldn’t do that. However, we decided to drive up and explore the canyon. This will be a `scenic drive post, with a short side trip.



Scenic Drive Details

Length: About 10 Miles up the canyon. We had to turn around at the gate about a half mile to the top.
Time Needed: Hour and a half to 2 hours.
Road Conditions: Paved.
Summit: 7556 ft.
Restrooms: Yes up at the cave, and I suspect the campgrounds have one.
Interesting Things:  Minnetonka Cave, Blue Pond Spring, probably some other stuff.

To Get Here:

Head to St. Charles, Idaho along HW 89 near Bear Lake. The canyon is signed, and easy to locate, head west.

The Adventure:



Heading up the canyon (PSP).



Some color starting on the north slopes (PSP).



Pretty canyon (PSP).



Conifer section (PSP).



Cows on the road (PSP).



The aspens appear to be just starting to change (PSP).



About 9.5 miles up we hit the closed gate. The last quarter mile or so was a little more intense than the rest of the canyon.



We decided to get out and stretch our legs. View down the canyon with a tree in the way.



View across the way.



Heading back down (PSP).



Neat rock formations (PSP).



Some more color (PSP).



I noticed this sign on the way up and decided to check it out on the way down. It is a super short adventure, like, less than a tenth of the mile out.

Quick Details:
Length: About 2 tenths of a mile out and back, with extra exploring.
Trail Type: Out and back.
Difficulty: DR2 almost get out and see, just a short walk.
Elevation Gain: NA, unless you do the additional trail and climb 20 feet or so above.
Restroom: No
Dogs? Leashed





Lovely trail through some aspens.



Before we knew it, we were there.



Some great reflection.



Panoramic.



Looking near the source. The lighting at this time was not the best, but this reminded me of Hanging Lake and Cascade Springs at the same time.



Amazing reflection right now though.



Another panoramic.



The outflow.



We found a trail that went above the pond and it allowed a nice view into the source.



From the top.



The entire pond.





Heading back towards the car.



The trees across the way.

I wish I had better lighting for this adventure, however, that just means we need to come back sometime. But it was super cool, and I am glad we stopped.



Just a little ways down the road you can see the bottom of the spring output.



Looking down canyon (PSP).



More neat rock formations (PSP).





Some more fall colors (PSP).



Getting a glimpse of Bear Lake below (PSP).



Almost back to the main road (PSP).



One last glimpse of Bear Lake (PSP).

That was a fun adventure! I am super glad we went up the canyon, even if we didn’t go see the cave (which I still want to do sometime). It is a very pretty and scenic canyon, and the spring was really neat as well. I bet there are more sights to see that we missed as well.