The Magic Valley is a region in south-central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding,

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural region in the

Snake River Plain image:Snake River view near Twin Falls, Idaho.jpg, The Snake River cutting through the plain leaves many canyons and Canyon#List of gorges, gorges, such as this one near Twin Falls, Idaho The Snake River Plain is a geology, geologic feature ...

located in the area. The northern Magic Valley region — particularly Blaine and Camas Counties — is also known as the

Wood River Valley The Wood River Valley is a region in the western United States in south-central Idaho. Located in Blaine County, it is named after the Big Wood and Little Wood Rivers, which flow through the area. The valley has four incorporated cities: B ...

after the

Big Wood River The Big Wood River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 4, 2011 river in central Idaho, United States, that is a tributary of the Malad River (which in turn is tributary to the ...

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 that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

. 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 b ...

, 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, on the Snake River in south central Idaho. Completed in 1906, the dam is east of Rupert on county highway 400; it is high and nearly a mile (1.6 km) in length, with a wide o ...

s and a series of

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

canal systems (such as the

Gooding Milner canal The Gooding Milner canal is an irrigation canal that runs through the Magic Valley (in Idaho, United States) providing water to nearby farms. It starts 8 miles west of Burley, at the Milner Dam and runs past Eden, Hazelton, Dietrich, Shoshone a ...

) on the

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

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Many cities and towns in the region were founded between 1900 and 1910 as a direct result of these projects.

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. Until the foundation of the College of Western Idaho in 2007, CSI was one of only two ...

(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 An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhib ...

are held throughout the region in the late summer, the largest being the Twin Falls County Fair in

Filer Filer may refer to: Places * Filer, Idaho * Filer, Missouri * Filer Charter Township, Michigan ** Filer City, Michigan * Filer Haven, a cove on Signy Island, Antarctica * Filer Hill, a mountain near east of Rootville, New York Other * Filer (su ...

during the week immediately preceding

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

. 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 an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

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

Jackpot Jackpot or Jackpot! may refer to: * A prize, such as a progressive jackpot * Gardena jackpots, a poker variant * Jackpot, Nevada, a community on the Nevada–Idaho state border Comics * Jackpot (comics), several comic book characters * ''Jack ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, which is closely associated with the Magic Valley region, offers casino gaming. The

Perrine Bridge The I. B. Perrine Bridge is a four-lane truss arch span in the western United States. Located at Twin Falls, Idaho, it carries U.S. Highway 93 over the Snake River Canyon, connecting to Jerome County and Interstate 84. The Perrine Bridge i ...

draws many

BASE jumpers ''Base Jumpers'' is a platform game developed by Shadow Software for the Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers wit ...

from around the world. It is the only man-made structure in the USA 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 several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

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

corn (maize) Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es.

Dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

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

Cities and towns

Acequia An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day American Southwest particularly n ...

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 Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

* Buhl * Burley *

Carey Carey may refer to: Names * Carey (given name), a given name * Carey (surname), a surname ** List of people with surname Carey Places Canada * Carey Group, British Columbia; in the Pacific * Carey Island (Nunavut) in James Bay United Kingdom * ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

* Declo * Dietrich * Eden * Fairfield *

* Gooding * Hagerman * Hailey * Hansen * Hazelton * Heyburn * Hollister *

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Towns, cities, and, geographic features * Ketchum, Idaho, United States * Ketchum, Oklahoma, United States * Lake Ketchum, Washington, United States * Ketchum Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica * Ketchum Ridge, a large ridge i ...

Kimberly Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a c ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

* Minidoka * Murtaugh * Oakley *

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

* Picabo * Richfield * Rogerson * Rupert *

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

* Sun Valley *

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

* Twin Falls * Wendell

References

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