City of Rocks National Reserve
Rock Formation · Almo, Idaho
Fourteen thousand acres of granite spires standing up to six hundred feet out of the sagebrush in the far south of Idaho, two miles from the Utah line. The California Trail ran straight through it, and emigrants wrote their names on Register Rock in axle grease - about fifty-two thousand people passed here in 1852 alone, and the writing is still legible. It is now co-managed by the National Park Service and Idaho State Parks, and it holds over a thousand climbing routes on rock that includes both a twenty-eight-million-year-old pluton and the two-and-a-half-billion-year-old Green Creek Complex, among the oldest exposed rock in the western United States.
3035 South Elba-Almo Road, Almo, Idaho, 83312, United States
The reserve is open year round during daylight, and the granite is never gated. THE VISITOR CENTRE AT ALMO - shared with Castle Rocks State Park - IS OPEN SIX DAYS A WEEK AND IS CLOSED ON WEDNESDAYS, typically 8:00 to 4:30. ⚠ THERE IS NO NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ENTRANCE FEE, BUT IDAHO STATE PARKS CHARGES A MOTOR VEHICLE DAY-USE FEE AND CAMPING FEES INSIDE THE RESERVE, and an America the Beautiful pass does not cover them - this catches people out constantly. Camping, yurts and the cottages are booked through Idaho State Parks. ⚠ THE CITY OF ROCKS BACK COUNTRY BYWAY IS UNPAVED GRAVEL, is not maintained for snow, and becomes poor after rain - it is the only route through the reserve. Fire restrictions are common in summer and are posted at the entrance.
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