How to Vacation and Staycation in Twin Falls, ID
Local business owners share their ideas for a perfect day in gorgeous Southern Idaho.
“The secret is out about Twin Falls,” says Jennifer Roeland, owner of the Roeland Home Bed & Breakfast. The city’s location in Southern Idaho means great proximity to outdoor recreation, but Twin (as it’s called by locals) itself is growing by leaps and bounds, too, making it an ideal home base for visitors.
We spoke to three local business owners about how they’ve seen the city change and how they’d spend an ideal day of a vacation or staycation in Twin Falls.
In This Article
Where to Stay in Twin Falls
It’s easy to stay in the heart of the action, with hotels and vacation home rentals aplenty near downtown. Visitors in search of a more intimate home away from home as well as homemade breakfast can book a room in a locally owned bed and breakfast such as the Fillmore Inn, which offers rooms with a country garden flair, or the Roeland Home, which perches on the rim of the Snake River Canyon and offers striking views.
“I don’t know if I found the home or it found me,” says Roeland, who grew up on Long Island, New York, and lived in California for many years before moving to Twin Falls in 2020. “I took a walk along the canyon trail that runs parallel with the river and accidentally walked down a private road where I saw a home located directly on the Snake River for sale.”
The home was custom-built in 1984, so Roeland and her husband upgraded it and opened in June 2021. Her ideal day starts with “watching the canyon awake at sunrise and the birds of prey soar while sitting on the deck. I never get tired of looking and experiencing it every day.”
Where to Play in Southern Idaho
Longtime local entrepreneur Tom Nickel has deep roots in Twin Falls. He’s owned Elevation 486 restaurant for 14 years and opened craft brewery Milner’s Gate in 2019. “I’m kind of from all over,” he says, “but (Idaho) is home in a way that nowhere else has been.”
He reels off a list of outdoor recreation he’d pack into a day off: water sports, mountain biking, visiting Shoshone Falls.
The city’s Centennial Waterfront Park offers fishing, kayaking and boating, and Nickel is especially effusive about Twin’s mountain biking. “With the Snake River going right along the edge of town, the mountain biking in the South Hills is incredible,” he says.
Of nearby Shoshone Falls (which is nearly 50 feet taller than Niagara Falls), Nickel adds, “I could probably go 10 times per year and never get tired of it. It’s unbelievable, especially in the spring when all the snow is melting.”
Then there’s Perrine Bridge, which, Nickel says, is one of the only spots – maybe the only spot – in North America from which it is legal to BASE jump without a permit. (The acronym refers to jumping from a building; antenna; span, such as a bridge; or earth, as in a cliff.)
Cory Paulson, a Magic Valley native who owns Perrine Man Press in downtown Twin Falls, confirms he gets customers from as far afield as Australia who are in town to partake in the extreme sport.
Where to Shop in Twin Falls
A staycation in Twin Falls means plenty of great shopping. Paulson owns his self-described “outdoorsy shop” with his wife, Kenji, who designed the store’s eponymous mascot that is individually screen-printed onto T-shirts, onesies, hoodies and other merch in the store.
The couple launched the operation out of their home in 2017, then moved downtown in 2019. “When we rented the downtown space, there were three or four big companies,” he says of Main Avenue’s storefronts, “and now every single space is filled. Downtown Twin is a cool historic downtown.”
Roeland concurs. “I adore downtown Twin,” she says. “It has a small-town feel like where I was born back east with quaint restaurants, boutique shops, a locally produced cheese shop and a beautiful park where festivities are held – not to mention a few great pubs, too.”
Where to Dine in Twin Falls
Of course, you can’t enjoy your vacation or staycation in Twin Falls if you don’t stay fueled. Paulson enjoys the city’s “multiple cool coffee shops,” and gives particular props to Twin Beans Coffee Co. (“Those guys make excellent breakfast and crepes”) as well as Ley Line Coffee, a brand-new business located inside Bull Moose Bicycles that makes its own locally sourced flavor syrups in house.
Paulson will also grab a bite at Koto Brewing Co. (where you can also find brews, naturally), Milner’s Gate or 2nd South Market food hall.
“Back in the day, you went to the food court,” Paulson says. “Now, all of the food court is local!”
Get to Know Southern Idaho
Want to learn more about living and working in Twin Falls and Southern Idaho? Check out the latest edition of Livability Southern Idaho.
