In the past year, I’ve learned about my need for more solitude and stillness in my life than I’d been getting. I’ve also discovered a wonderful place to seek these things in Idaho: Glenns Ferry. It’s a well kept secret, but the benefits of spending a weekend every now and then out, still, in nature, in simple surroundings, are wonderful enough that I think it’s worth sharing.

On Stillness and Solitude

I’ve no idea how your last few years have been, but I’ve come to (… been forced to?) the conclusion that, rural though I live, I’ve been missing a decent amount of solitude. I’ve got my office, but it’s noisy most of the time (charge controllers, air conditioner, computer fans, wind against the corners). And even on corners of our property, there’s still enough road noise to be annoying. I’ve been missing a place where I can genuinely sit, in proper silence, for long periods of time. Lately, this involves a lot of reading too. There’s something to be said for going out somewhere, disconnecting entirely, and spending a lot of quality time with some good books. For me, currently, this is usually some translation of the Bible or another.

Our modern life is chaotic in ways that I’m more and more convinced are simply bad for humans. We aren’t meant to be at 100%, 24/7/365. We can’t. But that also doesn’t stop people from trying, and from believing that their frenzied, harried state is somehow normal, or an improvement (see “multitasking”). I’ll suggest that this state is really good if you’re an advertiser trying to influence people, or a tech company trying to get people to scroll longer on your app to view more adds, but neither of those qualify as anything but bad for humans either.

There’s a lot to be said for getting away from [all this] for some while, and I’ll suggest that a good start is a Friday through Sunday. Just disconnect for a few days and let things unwind. It’s worth it, I promise.

The same sort of places work well if you need somewhere without distractions to write, or work on some projects. And I’ve found such a wonderful place out in Glenns Ferry, Idaho.

The Three Locations on the River

Down along the river, on the edge of Glenns Ferry, along a rather desolate road, there are three good sized properties in a row: The Glenns Ferry airport, Three Island Crossing State Park, and the Y-Knot Winery. I’ve written about flying to the winery before, but at the time, I had no idea what an amazing collection of places this is!

If you don’t fly, the airport won’t matter. But if you do, this is your standard small town airport with a bunch of ag sprayer traffic (who actually used their radios), and not much in the way of tiedowns or anything else. You know the sort of place.

Next down is Three Island Crossing State Park. This is an oddly small state park, but it’s one of the places where the Oregon Trail crossed the Snake River. There’s a bunch of camping, a selection of cabins, a visitor center and museum, and a wonderful day use area down by the river.

And the last property is the Y-Knot Winery. They’ve got a golf course, a restaurant, and some very nice cabins for rent by the night.

Three Island Crossing State Park

I don’t know exactly why it matters, but I think solitude is best found outside. There’s something about being around green, growing things, and I’m pretty sure at this point there’s also something about water that matters. Three Island Crossing State Park has all of this down in the day use area. There’s a lot of grass, a lot of trees, some hiking trails, some picnic tables, a bunch of cabins, and at least on Friday and Sunday, just about nobody down there. Saturday is a bit busier, but if you show up on a Friday morning, you’ll have the place to yourself for most of the day. Grab a table, grab a tree, bring a chair, whatever you feel like doing. Unless the wind is really blowing, it’s almost entirely silent. You’re away from the roads except for the access road down here, which will occasionally have traffic, but you can go an hour at a time without seeing another person out here. I expect the middle of the week is even quieter.

Should you want something a bit more structural, there is a picnic shelter with a lot of tables under it. Again, except for Saturday, there’s not likely to be anyone out here. Spread out a table worth of books and study whatever it is you need to study.

Between the picnic shelter and the river, a very nice restroom building has a range of toilets, sinks, and showers. Showers are free if you’re camping overnight, otherwise there’s a requested donation for their use. The showers are hot and rather nice, as far as camp showers go!

The grassy area borders the river and there are plenty of places to sit should you care to be up along the water - or with your feet in the water. I like being along rivers, I’m less a fan of being in rivers, so I typically just find a tree to lean against down there, or drag a picnic table over to somewhere decent and sit there.

The squirrels are fun to watch, too. I know some people can’t stand squirrels, but as one without nut trees, I don’t mind them. Years ago, in high school, I was cussed out by one - furiously. We had a “wildlife” project for photography class, and I didn’t feel like going to the zoo as everyone else was - so I scattered a bunch of nuts and peanut butter around our property and waited for the squirrels and chipmunks to find them - which they did. Before any of them at found them, or so I thought, our dog wanted to go out, so I let her out, and she proceeded to startle a squirrel in a tree who was inspecting what was obviously a trap. Which the dog only confirmed. Anyway, the squirrel ran to the end of the branch, stood up, stared straight at me (standing in the doorway), and uttered what was clearly a string of obscenities. I’m surprised the bark didn’t peal off the tree as a result.

Anyway, the faucets are left dripping in the late fall to keep them from freezing, and this is not news to the local wildlife.

Three Island Park Lodging: Camping and Cabins

The main attraction for Three Island Park seems to be the RV camping spots. If you’ve got a trailer, there are quite a few spaces with full hookups (which does mean that the place isn’t filled with generator racket). It’s not really a tent camping sort of place, though I’m sure nobody would care if you stuck a tent in one of the spots.

But it also has cabins for rent. The Three Island cabins are mostly down along the river, but there are a few in the secondary camping loop as well. They’re all about the same, and they’re your standard “summer camp dry camping” sort of cabin. Each has a covered front porch (open on the sides), some sort of swinging chair, an air conditioner and heater, and… well, there’s a bathroom a bit of a walk away. These are all dry cabins.

They are, however, gloriously simple dry cabins! Bring your own sleeping bag. They comfortably sleep 5 (two on the bottom, one on top, and then two on the couch/futon once you flatten it out). They have three lights, though if you’re allergic to CFL or LED lighting, you might bring your own bulbs.

Across from the beds, there is a futon you can use for whatever you need. Also, each cabin has outlets - so you can bring your laptop charger and phone chargers, if you’re doing that sort of thing.

Finally, there is a wonderful heavy wooden table and pair of benches in the corner! I hate to call these a custom writer’s alcove, but they’re just about perfect for that sort of thing, and they’re equally good for long form reading and studying. The air conditioner keeps them cool enough when it’s over 100 out, and I expect it heats them just fine too, though I’ve not yet been out in the proper dead of winter to check this.

The Y-Knot Winery Cabins

A short, connected-by-trails walk away is the Y-Knot Winery. They’ve got a nice restaurant in the main building (with live music most Friday and Saturday nights from 7 to 10 - and it’s almost always quite good), so I frequently enough show up, request a table in the corner, and do some writing. But they also have a pair of cabins and a house for rent. If your idea of solitude doesn’t involve “walking across the grass at night to the bathroom,” I can suggest the Y-Knot cabins as an alternative. Unlike the state park, they only have two - and while they’re booked frequently on the weekends (at least on Saturday night), you’ll find them quite free midweek.

Cabin. Porch. Chairs. But wait until you see what’s inside!

Each cabin opens up into a very cozy “living room” sort of area. Decent lighting, a couch, a coffee table made out of a half wine barrel, an air conditioner (with a heater in the corner for the winter). Again, there are outlets should you need to plug something in.

Plus, a coffee maker and a small selection of coffee! But there’s more…

The bedroom has a proper queen size bed - no need to bring your sleeping bag. You can show up with just yourself and be fine. As much as there’s something to be said for the spartan Three Island cabins, there’s quite a bit more to be said for these rather posh cabins, if that’s your style.

Plus a bathroom. With a shower. You could show up in here on Friday, and if you bring food (or are fasting), leave on Sunday, never having had to leave the cabin! Though that would miss out on the beautiful area down by the river next door…

Flying In to U89

Coming in by air is beautiful. Coming from the Treasure Valley, the best way in, as far as I’m concerned, is the river tour. Cut west of R-3203 on your way down to the river, carve south of Mountain Home’s airspace, stay north of R-3202 Low and Jarbridge North, and you’re there!

Parking is… well, honestly, I’m not really sure where to park. Try to stay out of the way, I guess. Transient parking at some airports is well labeled. Transient parking at others seems to be “anywhere flat,” and that’s about the case here. Set the parking brake, I guess…

Glenns Ferry is a decent strip with gravel and grass around it. The crew car’s battery has been dead for some long while, but if you want to try your luck, “the usual pilot code” works for the combo lock on the container mounted to the sign. Meow.

I also found the impossible. Not one, but two sprayers, on the radio. I mean, we’re not going to discuss patterns, wind direction, or anything else that sort of pilot doesn’t care about, but they actually announced themselves on the radio instead of stuffing me on short final NORDO. Glad to see it! Keep up the good comms!

Just hoof it on the road and you’ll hit the state park, then the winery! Not much else to say, it’s your typical middle-of-nowhere town airport!

Walking down to the day use area, you’ve got a great view of the runway for most of the walk.

I will say, the amount of “burned grassland” I saw coming back (not following the river, taking the northern route) was impressive. This is why I can’t breathe this summer…

Taking the Road

If you want to get to Glenns Ferry from the Treasure Valley, the easy path is I-84. However, if you’re limited to 55mph or so, that’s not exactly an option, and I highly suggest Highway 78 instead. This winds south out of Nampa, crosses the river at Dan’s Ferry (which has a ton of ethanol free gas options), goes through Murphy, Grand View, Bruneau, and into Hammett. Turn right on Business 30, parallel the interstate for a bit, and you drop into Glenns Ferry!

But don’t actually go all the way in. Take a break when you cross the river the second time. Right after you cross the bridge, turn left on a dirt road along the river, and ride to the end. There’s a pumping station that may or may not be running depending on when the year is, but if it’s not running, you’ve just found a great spot to toss out a camping chair and read for a while. Or fish, or just enjoy the water.

It’s not a bad spot at all, and there’s unlikely to be anyone else out here! There’s something about sitting along the river that I really, really like.

Then wander on in. There’s a gas station in town that sells ethanol free premium, should your vehicle prefer that sort of thing. Head in down to the river, and enjoy your stay!