Evel Knievel's Snake River Jump Monument

Twin Falls, Idaho

On September 8, 1974, with much media fanfare, daredevil Evel Knievel tried and failed to leap the mile-wide chasm of the Snake River Canyon on his specially engineered rocket motorcycle. His drogue parachute malfunctioned and opened on take-off. Evel and his contraption floated to the bottom of the canyon, landing on the riverbank directly below his launch ramp (If he'd gone into the river, his safety harness probably would have drowned him).

It was a less-than-auspicious milestone for Evel and the city of Twin Falls, but Evel's fans loved him for at least trying.

At the city's visitors center, just south of the Perrine Bridge over the canyon, some of Knievel's supporters have erected a monument to their hero with a carved likeness of the rocket motorcycle. It's engraved, "Robert 'Evel' Knievel: Explorer, Motorcyclist, and Daredevil. Attempted a mile-long leap of the Snake River Canyon on September 8, 1974 employing a unique Skycycle. The large dirt ramp is visible appox. 2 miles east of this point on the south ridge of the canyon. Donated to the community by Sunset Memorial."

The actual jump site -- a big earthen lump -- is indeed visible in the distance from the marker.

Knievel died in 2007.

On September 16, 2016, stuntman Eddie Braun did what Evel did not: he successfully jumped the Canyon in a rocket motorcycle built by the son of the man who built the original rocket motorcycle. It was named "Evel Spirit" in Knievel's honor.