A public workshop on the future management of the City of Rocks National Reserve, south of Burley, will be 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation headquarters, 5657 Warm Springs Ave., in Boise.

The main question will be “What kind of place do we want this park to be?” A plan will serve as a guidebook for the next 15 to 20 years to help managers make decisions about how to protect resources, what levels and types of uses are appropriate, what facilities should be developed and how people should access the park.

City of Rocks (see photo) is a unique area nestled in the mountain peaks of the Albion Mountain Range. I've visited it several times and it's a great place for camping, hiking, climbing and photography. It's about 3 1/2 hours from Boise and makes a good weekend trip.

The sagebrush steppe country butts right up against incredible granite rock formations. I really like the groves of pinon/juniper trees and some of the alpine-like meadows you can find if you get away from the roads.

A few of the giant rock formations are 60 stories tall and 2.5 billion years old. It is a world-famous climbing area with more than 500 climbing routes.

The Reserve is managed by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.

The public comment workshop should be of interest to campers, hikers, climbers and motorized interests. There are roads through the area.

If you can't attend the meeting, you can make a comment by e-mailing the reserve superintendent at Wallace_Keck@partner.nps.gov, or by calling (208) 824-5519 ext. 101.
Photo by Pete Zimowsky