Island Park, Idaho Island Park, Idaho Island Park is a town/city in Fremont County, Idaho, United States.
The city's populace was 286 at the 2010 census, up from 215 in 2000.
Island Park is part of the Rexburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Island Park is positioned at 44 29 59 N 111 20 19 W (44.4996, 111.3387), at an altitude of 6,293 feet (1,918 m) above sea level.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 6.77 square miles (17.53 km2), of which, 6.64 square miles (17.20 km2) is territory and 0.13 square miles (0.34 km2) is water. The region was known as Island Park long before the 33-mile (53 km)-long town was incorporated. The region known as Island Park is mostly a large crater or caldera titled the Henry's Fork Caldera that was created by the same hotspot that created the earlier Island Park Caldera and the later Yellowstone Caldera. In addition to the Henry's Fork Caldera, about a third of what is known as Island Park, is north of this caldera and extends athwart Henry's Lake Flat, athwart Henry's Lake, and to the Idaho/Montana border.
Henry's Lake Flat is a flat bottomed valley between high mountain peaks with Henrys Lake at the northwest end of the flats.
Mount Jefferson, south of Henrys Lake, is at 10,203 feet (3,110 m) and Targhee Peak, north of Henrys Lake is at 10,240 feet (3,121 m).
The most famous of Island Park's peaks, however, is the 9,886-foot (3,013 m) Sawtell Peak, south of Henrys Lake near Mount Jefferson.
Sawtell Peak is topped by a FAA radar dome and is a visible from nearly anywhere in Island Park.
Although much lesser than either the Island Park Caldera or the Yellowstone Caldera, the Henry's Fork Caldera is still one of the biggest calderas in the world and is the only large caldera in the Yellowstone region that is plainly visible. It has a nearly level 20-mile (32 km) wide circular floor that slopes slightly towards the southeast.
The Henry's Lake Flat area, north of the caldera, is a little higher.
Henry's Lake is at 6,500 feet (1,980 m) with the flats sloping slightly southward towards the caldera.
The Island Park region is mostly forested with many meadows and grasslands.
The Henrys Fork of the Snake River meanders through Island Park with its headwaters at Henry's Lake and at Big Springs (Idaho).
The Henry's Fork is impounded by Island Park Dam to form Island Park Reservoir at the rim of the caldera just north and just outside the caldera.
In fact, the entire south bank of Island Park Reservoir is formed by the northern slope of the caldera.
The Henry's Fork crosses through the caldera and then cascades off from it at Upper and Lower Mesa Falls.
Meadow in Island Park revealing flat bottom of caldera floor, Teton Range in background The geography of Island Park is actually unique and distinct ive.
Island Park is at the same 6,000 feet (1,830 m) of altitude as Teton Valley, Idaho, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or the Centennial Valley, Montana yet these close-by areas are semi-arid prairie or even desert receiving less than 12 inches (30 cm) of rain annually while Island Park is forested and green with many streams, ponds, lakes, and meadows.
Island Park receives well over 30 inches (76 cm) of rain with parts receiving over 50 inches (127 cm).
That is, Island Park has three times the rainfall and snow flurry as close-by areas of the same elevation. Island Park is different from almost anywhere in the world.
The Snake River Plain that was also formed by the Yellowstone hotspot is in line with the gap between the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain peaks along the West Coast of the United States so that there is a moisture channel that extends from the distant Pacific Ocean, between the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, through the Rocky Mountains to Island Park.
This abundant rain in Island Park falls on the mostly level floor of the caldera where it forms various meandering streams, ponds, marshes, and meadows.
It also falls on the higher areas to the east along the Yellowstone Park border where it percolates though the granular volcanic deposits to emerge as some of the biggest springs in the world.
There were 692 housing units at an average density of 104.2 per square mile (40.2/km2).
There were 122 homeholds of which 19.7% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 2.5% had a female homeholder with no husband present, 2.5% had a male homeholder with no wife present, and 39.3% were non-families.
The average homehold size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.97.
19.2% of inhabitants were under the age of 18; 6.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.4% were from 25 to 44; 34.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.7% were 65 years of age or older.
There were 425 housing units at an average density of 68.4 per square mile (26.4/km2).
There were 90 homeholds out of which 22.2% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female homeholder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families.
The average homehold size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city, the populace was spread out with 19.5% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older.
Island Park has a humid continental climate (Dsb), bordering on a subarctic climate (Dsc).
Climate data for Island Park Dam, Idaho United States Enumeration Bureau.
Green, A History of Island Park, 1990, p.
Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.263-267 United States Enumeration Bureau.
"ISLAND PARK, IDAHO".
Municipalities and communities of Fremont County, Idaho, United States
Categories:
Cities in Idaho - Cities in Fremont County, Idaho - Rexburg, Idaho micropolitan area
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