Eagle Island State Park: Fishing, Swimming, Zip-lining, and More

Boiseans have a wonderful resource for fun almost at their fingertips. Eagle Island State Park is located just a few miles outside of Boise. Activities here are plentiful: fishing, swimming, horseback riding, disc golf, hiking, zip-lining, or what we did on a recent Sunday afternoon…picnicking.

State Park Overview

Overall, we give this state park four stars.

I’m not sure how they crammed so many things into one park, but there really is a little something for everyone at Eagle Island State Park.

Pros:

• Variety of activities
• Opportunity to spend time in and on the water on a hot summer day
• Proximity to Boise

Cons:

• Crowded on the weekends
• Zip line is expensive

What To Do

• Play in the water
• Fish
• Zip line
• Hike
• Horseback ride
• Frisbee Golf
• Waterslide
• Picnicking
• Snow tubing

Amenities

The park has all the usual amenities like restrooms, picnic tables, etc. There’s also features a life jacket and junior ranger program for kids. For all of the specifics, check out the parks and rec’s website for Eagle Island State Park.

The Crowd Situation

This park is busy in the summertime. Expect lots of people. Finding a place to park may be difficult on the weekends. I recommend you start early or choose late afternoon/evening to avoid the crowds. There is a huge parking lot, but I suspect it gets full on busy days.

In winter this park is still used, but is much less frequented. So maybe 4 stars in the cooler months.

Unique to Eagle Island State Park

Where else can horseback ride, zip line, and go on a waterslide all in one location? It’s a weird conglommeration of activities.

The park is quite large, around 550 acres. With that much room, you can fit in a lot of different ways to recreate.

A Little History about Eagle Island State Park

This place has a fascinating history. In 1929, the land was purchased by the Idaho State Board of Prisons. For the next 50 years or so, prisoners lived here and worked on a farm/dairy/slaughterhouse (Crazy, right?!)

In 1983, Eagle Island State Park was dedicated as a state park. The prisoners had moved out several years before.

Explore Nearby

• Lucky Peak State Park
• Boise, Idaho’s capital and largest city, is conveniently located near Eagle Island. It takes 20 minutes to get downtown. The small town of Eagle is just a few minutes away with grocery stores and restaurants.
• Eagle Island is on the north side of the Treasure Valley and is close to Highway 55. This highway follows the Payette River where you can experience some of Idaho’s famed whitewater rafting.

Our experience(s) at Eagle Island State Park

Picnicking at Eagle Island State Park

We stopped at a grocery store close to the park and picked up some food for a picnic before entering the park. We weren’t dressed for swimming so instead we just put out a blanket and watched as families set up barbecues and splashed around in the beach area.

Conclusion

For $5 per car load (zip line not included), Eagle Island is a great option for families in Boise to get outside. With the plentiful activities available, there really should be something to entertain everyone.

We visited Eagle Island State Park as part of our Idaho State Parks Challenge. The challenge consists of visiting all of Idaho’s state parks in one year. We made up this challenge to see a bit more of our beautiful state and help alleviate the restlessness caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Feel free to join the challenge!

Related posts you might like:

• Lucky Peak State Park: Biking, Kayaking and More
• Top 10 Things to Do in Boise, Idaho
• How to Plan a Chill Weekend

Or if you want to see all of our posts, visit Past Posts.