American Falls Trip

[Brett Nelson]

Just got back from a 4 day trip to American Falls Reservoir (southeast Idaho). Convinced that this location is the best kite spot within a distance that is just close enough to get to on short notice. Of course, I live up in Logan, so it's even closer for me than those down in SLC. Takes about 90 min by car for me.

For anyone who isn't familiar with it. Lake is about 2 miles across and 20 miles long. Water is used for irrigation, so the level falls throughout the summer. The best launch is at Willow Bay which is an AMAZING kite spot. There are actually distinct bands to the beach as the water drops. The highest beach is coarse sand. Then there is a band of very fine white sand. Then course sand mixed with silt when water drops further. There is some beach vegetation, but only enough to be mildly irritating at times.

80% of the time the wind is from the west/southwest. Inside Willow Bay, the left side of the bay does a good job knocking down swells and providing good flatwater even during high winds. Like the rest of the Snake Basin, the wind is plentiful. Stats suggest 35-50% chance of >Beaufort 4 daytime during the summer. Mornings are typically very calm, and the lake is glass. By about 10am a light breeze starts up, and by about 12-2 pm it is 15+. It is typically 15-25knots till about 6-7pm when it shuts off again. Unlike many spots in Utah, it doesn't have to be an approaching storm to get wind. It'll be clear and sunny, with 0% chance of rain and still windy. Must be some kind of convection effect, because there is consistently a group of clouds that forms over the far side of the lake every afternoon and just sits there. Anyway, the water is VERY WARM at Willow Bay because it is shallow. Typically less than 10-20' deep. Up to the northeast by the boat ramp, the water was actually waist deep out about 150 yards. Unless a big storm stirs things up, the water in the bay is as warm as Powell. The color, feel, and temp actually reminded me a lot of our annual Lake Powell trip in August.

The grounds are beautiful. There is a HUGE and well maintained grass park above the beach with pavilion, mature shade trees, open grass field, fire pits, bathrooms, etc... Even a little cafe. Great place for the wife and kids to hang out and still be able to watch the kites. We stayed in the RV park and really enjoyed it, other than the fact that 6-8 trains pass by every night. But it was awesome to have the nice hot showers when we were done at the beach. The RV park was full (about 30-40 motorhomes), but oddly few of them spent any time in the water or at the park.

The most amazing thing about this spot is that even though the water is glass every morning, the place is EMPTY. One day, we unfortunately didn't get wind above 6-8mph, and the entire lake was glass all day. We literally saw one boat about 2 miles away and there was nobody but us on the beach. 90F and clear skies.

If anyone in the area wants to try to put together a little 2-3 day kite excursion sometime, that is the place. Would be fun to get a bunch of local wind riders up there.

[Marty Lowe]

Kind forgot about AF reservoir,
Maybe its time to put it back on the radar with lower water levels opening some beaches up.
If you do a search here for "American Falls"
search.php?keywords=american+falls
you'll find some wind log trips that were posted a few years back

Point forecast is helpful, seemed accurate when we were chasing it.

http://tinyurl.com/mdw24m9

[Marty Lowe]

Looks like a good forecast for AF this weekend.
For me it's about the same drive time as to Skyline.
hmmm,,,
http://tinyurl.com/mdw24m9