Snake River Canyon, Bruneau Dunes & Payette Whitewater

Three days through three of Idaho's most distinctive landscapes south and north of Boise — each day defined by a different physical experience. The Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Boise is the densest concentration of nesting raptors in North America, with 800 pairs of falcons, hawks, eagles, and owls nesting in the basalt canyon walls above the Snake River. Bruneau Dunes State Park, an hour further south, has sand dunes up to 470 feet tall — the tallest single-structure dunes in North America — rising from the Snake River Plain in a landscape that looks like it was airlifted from the Sahara. Day three returns north to the Payette River for whitewater on the South Fork, closing the loop with the river canyon landscape that most defines southern Idaho.