TWIN FALLS, Idaho — On a sunny day you'll see lots of people on the Canyon Rim Trail, but if you're not looking for it you might not see a local gem, hidden in plain sight.
Nestled away on the Canyon Rim Trail, the Twin Falls Love Lock Fence is a reminder love is thriving in the community. Monica McCue started the fence several years ago.
"It's easy to find once you know where it's at," McCue said. "It's kind of the perfect to really just take someone and enjoy the moment, enjoy the view, and express your love."
Each lock represents a relationship. McCue and her husband put the first lock on the fence together, and the idea took off. McCue says she's loved hearing the stories behind each one of the locks.
"It's so special to me because people had sent me those initial love stories--I just got to see the love in our community," McCue said.
After the fence was vandalized two separate times, many of the locks, and the stories behind them were lost.
"They message me and it's so sad to hear their stories, like 'I put a lock on there with my mom and she's passed away, or I put a lock on there with one of my kids who has since died,'" McCue said.
McCue says she's working to use her two social media accounts, Idaho Bucket-list and the Instagram account for the fence, to return locks to their rightful owners as they're recovered--but some locks haven't been found. Her and her husband's lock--and many other people's--are still missing.
The ones that have been found, McCue has delivered personally.
"We've tried to get as many as we can back to the people when they're recovered," McCue said.
McCue worked with the City of Twin Falls to rebuild the fence much stronger than before, and it's begun filling up with locks once again. She says she plans to put a new lock on the fence--but this time it will represent three people: her, her husband, and the couple's new baby.
"We had a lock on the first fence and the second fence, and we will soon have a lock on the third fence," McCue laughed.
She says she hopes the fence will remain a symbol of love in the community for years to come.
If you'd like to visit the fence, just follow the Canyon Rim Trail from the visitor's center.
