City of Rocks National Reserve Visitor Center — Attraction in Burley

City of Rocks National Reserve is administrated through a joint venture between the National Park Service and Idaho State Parks. Located south after exiting I-84 at Burley or Delco, Idaho, it is a park where one must make a dedicated effort to visit. It is not conveniently located along an interstate highway where one might just decide to stop.upon viewing an exit sign.

One big issue is with navigation. My Prius GPS does not accept many rural Idaho towns, including where the only visitor center is located in Almo. After inputting avoiding dirt roads (and not paying suffient attention), my car's navigation still sent me via some 14 miles of dirt road through Oakley. If you head south from Burley, one is destined for a lengthy dirt road experience on Hwy 27 into the west side of the park. If exiting from Delco along I-84, a paved backcountry road road along Hwy 77 will take you to the east side of the park and into Almo where the visitor center is located.

I have to admit that even with my low clearance Prius, the 14 miles of dry dirt road were well maintained with no washboard or potholes. Unfortunately, weather may change that experience as rain and mud could definitely become a preventable challenge.

If entering from the west side via Oakley, the Emery Canyon Road does cross easterly through the park to the town of Almo.(visitor center, elevation 5,397 ft.) Emery Pass, near the west-side entrance here, has an elevation of 6,830 ft.

Visitor center hours during summer peak season are from 8:00am to 4:30pm, 7 days a week. During off-season (dates set from October through May), the visitor center is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Check the NPS website for up-to-date visitor center hour...

Something we did not expect was to thoroughly enjoy this visitor center. The ranger serving at the center when we visited, we are completely blanking on his name, was amazing. He knows absolutely everything, including all the little details of favorite camping spots depending on your interests, best trails and the best direction and times of day to traverse them, everything.

We watched the movie when we first arrived. Don't bother, just talk to this ranger and he will blow your mind with his knowledge and stories of the area. We even found out why it is a national preserve rather than a national park. I'll let you give out that one for yourself. This trip was merely a scouting trip, so when we go back we will have a basic idea of what we're doing. However, with the knowledge gained at the visitor center we figure we will reserve our spot and then on the first day so in at the visitor center. We will plan our whole trip then and there in the visitor center. That's how awesome...

This review is specifically for the Visitor Center, not the actual Reserve or State Park, which were both great. There’s a fun wagon to take pictures with your family, and you can fill up your water. The souvenir selection is not great, but my biggest complaint was the maps. The free maps did not have a lot of information about the hiking trails, so I paid $2 for a map of both the reserve and the state park thinking it would give more info. But it did not- there are tons and tons of trails that are never mentioned in any of the maps or websites. This makes it difficult to plan your day. Once you are on a trail, you see signs everywhere with a bunch of different trails that are not mentioned in the maps, and with a 7-month old baby in tow, you can’t do a hike at whim without knowing the mileage and conditions of the trail. I was really disappointed in the lack of...