Named for a pair of 200-foot cascades in the Snake River, both of which have long been diverted for irrigation or to generate electricity, Twin Falls (pop. 34,469) is the heart of the extensive “Magic Valley” of highly productive irrigated croplands that cover half a million acres of south-central Idaho. Best known to people outside Idaho as the place where, in 1974, daredevil Evel Knievel tried and failed to ride a rocket-powered motorcycle across the Snake River canyon, Twin Falls is both a quiet farming community and a busy highway town—with a barrage of backlit and neon signs around the junction of US-93 and the I-84 freeway.

  The one unique attraction of Twin Falls, the site of Evel Knievel’s aborted motorcycle jump, is a mile north of town on US-93, south of I-84. There’s a large parking area and a visitors center at the south foot of the delicate Perrine Memorial Bridge, and it’s well worth stopping for, not only to see the remains of his launch pad (a triangular pile of dirt, on private property a mile or so east of the bridge) or the stone monument that calls him “Robert ‘Evel’ Knievel—Explorer, Motorcyclist, Daredevil.” The views down into the 500-foot-deep gorge, the floor of which has been irrigated and filled with a bright green golf course, are also impressive, especially at sunset when the whole scene takes on an otherworldly glow.

  Though the town can make a good jumping-off point for Sun Valley and the mountain wilderness farther north, there’s not a lot to do in Twin Falls. The waterfalls for which the town is named are worth a look if you have the time: Shoshone Falls, taller than Niagara, may still impress, especially in spring. Check them out from the park at the end of Falls Avenue, seven miles east of US-93. Without its namesake waterfalls, however, Twin Falls has little to offer travelers apart from a chance to fill the gas tank, eat, or get a night’s sleep. For breakfast or a lunchtime burger, head to Kelly’s Diner (208/733-6466), at 110 N. Main Avenue, or the 24-hour Depot Grill (208/733-0710), along downtown’s diagonal main drag at 545 S. Shoshone Street. Sleep at your choice of two Best Westerns, a Comfort Inn, an Econo Lodge, a Super 8, or any of a dozen others along US-93 or I-84.