Black Magic Canyon, Idaho April 2016

blueeyes

ephemeral excursionist
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
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Easy to find, easy to hike...except it took us 3 hours to travel a whopping 3/4 of a mile down this canyon and about 15 min to walk back to the car using the dirt road. So many formations to explore, Spencer and I had a grand time crawling all over the place. I think we had been in the canyon for an hour when we crawled up and out to see that we had traveled about 300 feet. So I walked back to the car to return my jacket and tripod. Spent a few minutes photographing the dam and headed down the canyon some more. After exploring we found a hot springs on our way back to Idaho Falls and soaked.

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Spencer to give you some perspective.

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Rocks in a carved out bowl. It was in an awkward place. Spencer had to be my support while I tried to get this photo. So he is 6'4" and I was using his shoulders to balance while clinging to the rock. The formations and how the water and little rocks swirl around when the water is flowing fast and carve these little bowls fascinate me.

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Spencer

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Me

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So we haven't made it very far. This hike took way longer than I thought it would. We were going to go explore one of the caves near by but did not have enough time. Neither of us minded this spot was all we needed to entertain us for the day.

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Hot Springs Soak

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Careful visiting, not sure, but.......I believe water is still let out from the dam, flooding the canyon at times.....
 
Careful visiting, not sure, but.......I believe water is still let out from the dam, flooding the canyon at times.....
Yes in the summer for irrigation. Anyone looking to go should check with the BLM first. But good times are early spring and fall.
 
Very cool. So there is a damn but no water? Am I correct to assume that water flows there for part of the year?
 
Very cool. So there is a damn but no water? Am I correct to assume that water flows there for part of the year?

There is a diversion damn. You really should call ahead and make sure they are not releasing water from the Magic Valley Damn up above. I don't think the diversion damn functions anymore, many of the wood pieces were broke out of place. Most of the time I would say there is probably not water running through it. But as with any slot canyon know before you go.

Here is a link to an article about the canyon.
http://magicvalley.com/lifestyles/r...cle_6d8b66a6-47ca-11e1-8332-001871e3ce6c.html
 
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