Wood River Channel

Hikes: D.
Total Distance, D: 4 1/2 miles.
Difficulty: Level I.
Season: April 1-October 15.
USGS Map: Kinzie Butte.
BLM 100K Map: Fairfield.
Dirt Road Miles: None.
PLSS Location: Section 15, T4S R18E.

Introduction: This is an interesting hike for one reason: the unique river-sculpted lava rock in the bed of the Big Wood River. It's not really a river here--irrigation diversion has dewatered the river in all but the highest-water year. But the legacy of floods past has made this one of the most interesting hikes in the book.
  As usual with the BLM, the agency has totally failed to protect this resource. As a result, this rock has been declared a locatable mineral, like gold or silver. Therefore, it can be "mined" to satisfy a market of Pacific Rim corporate headquarters. The BLM tried to withdraw the area from such mining, but was too slow and too late. Better get here quick, before it's all gone...

The Hike: Just start walking up the river, poking around whenever and wherever you want. At first you'll see low-relief river-sculpted rock. As you go up-channel, you'll see bigger and bigger rocks carved by the river. Some of these invite crawling around, under, and through. Please be careful, but have fun!
  After a while the channel gets less interesting. You can continue upstream, on either side of the channel, to some old ruins.
  The author once hiked east into the BLM's Lava Wilderness Study Area, but it wasn't an enjoyable hike...

Access: Drive 4 1/4 miles north of the main junction in Shoshone town, to an intersection with a convenience store. Turn right on a pavel road, and follow this main road's rights and lefts as shown on the detailed drive map. When the paved road starts to curve to the left (to the west), turn right on a dirt road. Follow that road for about a mile, until it comes close to the river channel, and park.