Nature’s Hand Sculptured Canyon Overflows With Beauty, Surprises

It feels like trespassing - planting forbidden steps in virgin snow as stone-solid faces look down on you, guarding hidden treasure. Walking through this stone canyon, it’s hard to imagine the years, pebbles and water that formed the deep, dark shapes.

North-south travelers on Idaho’s Highway 75 have driven over this canyon countless times. In spring and summer it is known as the Big Wood River. But when water disappears into falling snow, the river bed reveals itself as Sculptured Canyon - a winding, rugged crevasse filled with some of Mother Nature’s most incredible creations.

The canyon is north of Shoshone just off the road to the west side of Magic Reservoir. The locals call it the “potholes.” Some refer to it as Black Magic.

Thanks to the cooperation of federal, state and local agencies and the drive of Shoshone resident Judy Brossy, there is an easy pull-off and trail system leading to the river’s edge.

An informative kiosk explains the history of the canyon and river, and there are picnic areas. But off the trail system, Mother Nature has carved a geological museum of black sculpture.

A rounded stone forms a cupped hand from one side, but from the other direction, a lover’s embrace.

Below the walls’ stern faces, years of erosion have formed bowls and dips. Boulders once perched on the rim have tumbled to the bottom to be recarved.

This time of year it is an essay in black and white. An artist might refer to it as chiaroscuro, the technique for using light and shade. The canyon’s depths are a deep hue of gray, almost black, then layer upon layer of grays and whites open to the skies.

The canyon is not without color, though. Fall foliage lends shades of gold, rust and brown, which lie upon a recent snow for breathtaking views. “It’s kind of an understatement,” said Bureau of Land Management geologist Peter Oberlindacher. “It’s a fairly featureless plain out there. It’s like dropping off into another world.”

A walk through the canyon can be unsettling.

“It’s not spooky,” Oberlindacher said, “but surreal. It’s just not something you see in a lot of places. It is so unexpected to see in this area where you don’t expect geological showings.”

The area was first written about in 1902 in U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin No. 199. Writer I.C. Russell described the potholes of the Big Wood and named the volcano that formed the area Black Butte. Oberlindacher and the BLM’s Terry Maley are some of the more recent narrators for the canyon in their book, “The Rocks and Potholes of the Big Wood River,” published by Idaho Geological Survey Press.

“I think my first reaction was then and it still is real surprise that these pebbles and cobbles with the force of water created such intricate carvings,” Oberlindacher said.

He said the area was formed about 10,000 years ago when Black Butte erupted. “It actually displaced the original channel of the Big Wood so the river was forced to carve a new channel,” he said. “All of those features are younger than the Black Butte basalt.”

The sculptures or potholes are found throughout the Big Wood channel but not in the same intensity. Potholes are unique, but are common elsewhere, Oberlindacher said.

“It is one of the best examples of its kind,” Maley said. “I would challenge anybody to show me anything better.”

Sculptured Canyon is not visible when water is running through the channel. When the water is gone, it is a breathtaking but demanding hike.

While the hike’s not long, it’s easy to slip and fall on wet or snowy basalt. Some rocks are unstable and potholes deep. There is standing water of various depths along the riverbed.

And when weather is warm, there is potential for rattlesnakes. It’s not a trek for small children or those without solid walking boots or shoes. Contact the BLM or Big Wood Canal Co. to check water levels and weather conditions before planning a trip to the canyon.