Oolite idaho2/28/2024 ![]() As you approach the cliffs, it makes more sense why they call it an “interpretive” trail because the marked trail eventually ends and you are able to roam about the numerous rock formations. You’re greeted by fields of Sagebrush, Bitterbrush and Rabbitbrush that you have to navigate through by a marked trail to get to the cliff formations. The entrance has several informational plaques that detail the area’s history. After millions of years, the hardened, clumped-together oolite eroded away into wavy cliff formations that include arches and curves.ĭriving southwest on Mud Flat Road, the trailhead is marked by a turnoff on your right. Oolites, about the size of BBs, are small, round grains of sedimentary limestone that formed by the moving currents of water. It’s hard to believe the majority of this valley lied under water.Īfter the lake drained into the Pacific Ocean about two million years ago, it left behind tiny formations called oolites that, over time, helped carve the pathway for the Snake River. Lake Idaho used to engulf a region the size of present day Lake Ontario, or about 4.7 million acres. It’s a unique area because it used to be the banks of ancient Lake Idaho. Located southwest of Mountain Home Air Force Base, past the town of Grandview, lies an area known as the Shoofly Oolite Interpretive Trails. ![]() At first look, there’s not much to see, but look a little closer and you can catch a glimpse of what this area looked like millions of years ago. ![]() After a short-lived spring season, the summer landscape of the Treasure Valley trades its green grasslands in for brown, dry bushes and dust.
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