The Magic Valley, also known as South Central Idaho, is a region in south-central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding,

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural region in the Snake River Plain located in the area. The northern Magic Valley region — particularly Blaine and Camas Counties — is also known as the Wood River Valley after the Big Wood River.

Demographics

According to the 2010 Census the counties of the Magic Valley region had a combined population of 185,790, or nearly 12% of Idaho. Twin Falls is the region's largest city and

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

. Burley is the principal city of the region's other micropolitan area. Other cities include

, Rupert, Gooding, Wendell,

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...

, Hagerman and Hailey.

History

The name "Magic Valley" is a reference to the construction of Milner and

Minidoka Dam The Minidoka Dam is an earthfill dam in the Western United States, western United States, on the Snake River in south central Idaho. Completed in 1906, the dam is east of Rupert, Idaho, Rupert on county highway 400; it is high and nearly a mile ( ...

s and a series of

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

canal systems (such as the Gooding Milner canal) on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

during the first decade of the 20th century. In a short time these projects "magically" transformed what had been considered a nearly uninhabitable area into some of the most productive farmland in the northwestern

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Many cities and towns in the region were founded between 1900 and 1910 as a direct result of these projects. Annie Pike Greenwood wrote ''We Sagebrush Folks'', an autobiography published in 1934 about the challenges of farm life in the area.

Education

The

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Together with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Ida ...

(CSI) in Twin Falls is the Magic Valley's only college. Most of the region's cities and towns support separate public school districts.

Culture

Cultural events are routinely held at CSI. County fairs are held throughout the region in the late summer, the largest being the Twin Falls County Fair in Filer during the week immediately preceding

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

. The Sun Valley resort in Blaine County hosts several attractions throughout the year. The town of Hagerman hosts a large blues fest in September. The Magic Valley is home to the Magic Valley Arts Council, a non-profit umbrella arts organization that serves the greater Twin Falls area and surrounding 8-county Magic Valley region. The organization's mission is to ''foster and promote experiences in the arts for all people in the Greater Twin Falls.'' It is an association of arts organizations, individuals, educational institutions and businesses looking for opportunities to improve the quality of life in the Magic Valley area by providing arts and cultural opportunities. Annual events and programs include Kids Art in the Park, Arts on Tour, Brown Bag Lecture Series, theatrical productions, the Full Moon Gallery of Fine Art and Contemporary Craft, public art projects and many others.

Leisure

Popular leisure activities in the Magic Valley include

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

at several resorts throughout the region is one of the most popular winter activities. Jackpot,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, which is closely associated with the Magic Valley region, offers casino gaming. The Perrine Bridge draws many BASE jumpers from around the world. It is the only man-made structure in the US that is legally jumpable without a permit.

Agriculture

Important agricultural commodities in the Magic Valley include rainbow trout,

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

s, corn (maize) and

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es.

Dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

production is also significant, especially in Jerome and Gooding Counties.

Cities and towns

Acequia An acequia () or (, also known as síquia , all from ) is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Acequias are found in parts of Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and what i ...

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

* Bellevue *

* Buhl * Burley * Carey *

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

* Declo * Dietrich * Eden * Fairfield * Filer * Gooding * Hagerman * Hailey * Hansen * Hazelton * Heyburn * Hollister *

* Ketchum * Kimberly *

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

* Minidoka * Murtaugh * Oakley *

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

* Picabo * Richfield * Rogerson * Rupert *

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

* Sun Valley * Triumph * Twin Falls * Wendell

References

{{coord, 43, N, 114, W, format=dms, display=title, type:adm1st_region:US-ID Regions of Idaho