Eagle Island State is easily one of the best kept secrets of the Treasure Valley. With a perfect location snuggled between Eagle, Star and Meridian, it’s just a few minutes til summer fun. They have many recreation opportunities that make for a great day with the whole family. The park provides a place for disk golf, hiking, bird watching, volleyball, swimming, horse riding or paddle boarding just to name a few. It’s a popular spot for birthdays, family reunions and just some fun in the sun! Their visitors center is also a gift shop where people can buy souvenirs and rent paddle boards.
Entry + Rentals
The entry for the park is only $5 per vehicle for the day, unless you own a state parks passport ($10 annually). The passport can be purchased through the Idaho state parks website. As far as rentals go, the park offers paddle board rentals and has a loaner station for life jackets. Their visitors office even rents out corn hole boards which make for some family friendly competition. With plenty of trees this is also a popular place to go hammocking in the shade during the summer days. Eagle Island is even furry friendly as long as they come on a leash.
Activities + Ammenities
As for food, they have charcoal grills available for those memorable summer cookouts with plenty of picnic tables and shade. They also have the crowd pleasing Hawaiian shaved ice stand with enough flavors to last the whole summer. Near the shaved ice is the massive blue water slide which you can buy tickets for one ride, ten rides or even an all day pass. My kids would beg all summer to go to Eagle Island just for the big blue slide! This year it opens Saturday June 1st and is turned on Thursday through Sunday most weeks, but it’s always safe to check their website.
Zip Line Course
If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, Eagle island also has a zip lining course called Zip Boise. They have a triple zip line for racing with friends and single courses between 400 – 1,100 ft. Whether you are looking for a fun date, a way to spice up a boring summer day or a little adrenaline rush for your night, this is an awesome activity! Zip Boise has courses for every level of adventurer from the intro zip of 375 ft all the way to their Indiana Jones style suspension bridge. If you’re craving a little excitement not far from home, this is the place to be.
Winter Sledding Hill
In the winter months, Eagle Island transforms into a tubing, sledding and ski hill called Gateway Park. It was built to give children a place to learn how to ski and snowboard. They even offer free entry to anyone who has rented gear in town and brings their receipt to the park (seeing as the park does not rent out that gear). Entry for the day includes and all day pass on the tubing hill and a tube rental for $15. The park has two tubing runs and a ski hill, they plan to add a third tubing run the winter of 2019-2020. The park generally opens over winter break for the West Ada School District and remains open through March 1st.
No matter what time of year, Eagle Island state park is a beautiful place to visit for a day of fun. If you have any questions about the park or the surrounding area feel free to give me a call! As always I’m happy to talk about any questions you may have!
-Alei
