Tucked into the South Hills southeast of Twin Falls, a modest collection of roughly 30 hummingbird feeders along old Oakley/Rogerson Road has quietly drawn bird enthusiasts and nature lovers from across the region for decades — and it continues to do so every summer.
The feeding station sits about an hour from Twin Falls via mostly gravel roads, a drive that hasn’t discouraged a steady stream of visitors willing to make the trek for the chance to sit among dozens of hovering, buzzing hummingbirds. Volunteers keep the operation going throughout the warmer months, regularly replenishing the sugar water that keeps the feeders full and the birds returning.
A Decades-Long Legacy
The station traces its origins to Virgil Brockman, the man credited with establishing the site and turning it into the regional attraction it is today. Though Brockman is no longer the caretaker, his vision lives on through the volunteers who continue the work each season.
Mark Crider, who has made the journey to the South Hills feeding station for about 20 years, spoke to the spirit Brockman brought to the place. “Virgil Brockman — this was his dream, and it’s been cool, and everybody comes here,” Crider said.
That sentiment reflects what many visitors describe as a genuine sense of community surrounding the site. People return year after year, and the station has developed a reputation that extends well beyond Twin Falls County. Word has spread through outdoor recreation circles and birding communities, drawing people from neighboring counties and out-of-state visitors who plan trips specifically around the hummingbird season.
A Peaceful Stop in the South Hills
For Paul Taylor, visiting the feeding station for the third time, the appeal goes beyond simply watching birds. Taylor described the experience as something that offers a rare kind of stillness — a quality harder and harder to find as daily life grows noisier and more demanding.
“The peacefulness, the serenity, the birds just sitting there, it’s so calm and peaceful here,” Taylor said.
That kind of atmosphere is part of what makes the South Hills station stand out. Unlike a traditional park or wildlife preserve with formal infrastructure, the feeding station has a grassroots, community-built feel. There are no entrance fees, no formal visitor centers, and no crowds of the kind that can overwhelm other popular outdoor destinations in the region. It remains a place where visitors can slow down, watch the birds from close range, and simply be present in the Idaho high country.
The South Hills themselves offer some of the most scenic terrain in Magic Valley — a landscape of rolling hills, open range, and forested ridgelines that feels a world away from the urban corridor along Blue Lakes Boulevard and the Snake River Canyon below. The drive out, while long and unpaved in stretches, is part of the experience for many who make the trip.
Twin Falls County has long offered natural attractions that reward those willing to venture a little further off the beaten path. Just as CSI’s Centennial Observatory draws stargazers to monthly Twin Falls star parties, the South Hills hummingbird station draws those seeking a quieter, more immersive connection with Idaho’s natural environment. Both reflect the kind of community-driven, low-key outdoor culture that defines much of the Magic Valley experience.
Meanwhile, Twin Falls continues to balance access to its most popular natural sites with the need to protect them. City parks officials recently tightened evening hours at Dierkes Lake and Shoshone Falls in response to vandalism — a reminder that high-traffic destinations come with management challenges the more remote South Hills site has so far avoided.
What Comes Next
The feeding station will continue operating through the summer hummingbird season, sustained by the volunteers who carry on the tradition Virgil Brockman started. For anyone in Twin Falls County looking for an off-the-beaten-path summer outing, the South Hills feeding station remains one of the region’s most unique and accessible wildlife experiences — just plan for an hour on gravel and bring your patience. The birds are well worth it.