Recreation and Places of Interest

Idaho’s mountains, lakes, streams, and extensive wilderness areas make it a haven for outdoor activities. Principal ski areas include Silver Mountain, near Kellogg; Schweitzer Basin, near Sandpoint; Brundage Mountain, near McCall; and Bogus Basin, near Boise. The world-famous Sun Valley, opened in 1936 by the Union Pacific Railroad, is an important summer and winter resort. Hunters travel from around the world to search for big game in the state’s backcountry, some of which is accessible only by foot or horseback. Idaho is also renowned for sport fishing, especially in the northern rivers and lakes, where there are several varieties of salmon and trout.

National Parks

Craters of the Moon National Monument covers 217 sq km (84 sq mi) of extinct volcanoes and lava formations in the south central part of Idaho. In City of Rocks National Reserve, in southern Idaho, are odd granite clusters that resemble villages. Nez Perce National Historical Park, which includes a portion in northern Idaho, is dedicated to the history of the Nez Perce people and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. A small section of Yellowstone National Park extends into northeastern Idaho at the Wyoming state line. The Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument is on the Snake River, the carving action of which has exposed extraordinary fossil beds.

National Forests

The ten national forests in Idaho cover 8.3 million hectares (20.4 million acres), or about two-fifths of the state. Idaho’s national forests are noted for their magnificent scenery, variety of wildlife, and superb stands of tall timber. They also include large areas of grassland and rocky mountain slopes. Boise National Forest, in western Idaho, is the largest and covers more than 1 million hectares (2.6 million acres). Most of the forest lies within the Idaho Batholith—a large and highly erosive geologic formation. Through uplift, faulting, and subsequent dissection by streams, a mountainous landscape has developed. A portion of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, the Sawtooth Wilderness, Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, a part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, are near or in the forest.

The Challis National Forest has a diversity of landscapes, including the rugged exposed heights of Borah Peak, Idaho’s tallest mountain. Stretching between Oregon and Montana in north central Idaho is the Nez Perce National Forest. Within it is the canyon of the Snake River, the deepest gorge in North America. At Hells Canyon, on the Idaho-Oregon state border, there is a vertical drop of about 2,100 m (about 7,000 ft). More than 1 million hectares (about 2.5 million acres) of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, which extends into eastern Washington and western Montana, lie within northern Idaho. The forest includes some of Idaho’s most scenic mountain ranges—the Selkirk, Cabinet, Coeur d’Alene, and Bitterroot mountains—and three of Idaho’s largest lakes (Pend Oreille, Coeur d’Alene, and Priest lakes). The state’s other national forests include the Caribou, Clearwater, Payette, Salmon, Sawtooth, and Targhee.

State Parks

Some 22 areas in Idaho are administered by the state as parks and recreational sites. In most of these areas there are facilities for hunting, fishing, water sports, camping, and picnicking. Heyburn State Park, the largest area, covers about 2,230 hectares (5,505 acres) of lake country in northern Idaho. At Bruneau Dunes State Park the tallest sand dunes tower to 140 m (470 ft) and are among the tallest in North America. Register Rock, where pioneers carved in stone their names and the dates of their passage on the Oregon Trail, is located in Massacre Rocks State Park.

The historic Mission of the Sacred Heart, or Cataldo Mission, is a restored Jesuit mission built between 1848 and 1853. In the 1970s it was leased by the Coeur d’Alene tribe to the Idaho department of parks and recreation to operate as a state park for 40 years.

Museums

The works of Pacific Northwest artists are housed in the Boise Art Museum. The gallery was opened in 1937 and is the state’s outstanding art museum. The Idaho State Historical Museum, in Boise, includes noted exhibits of early Native American and pioneer life. The Idaho Museum of Natural History, at Idaho State University, features life and earth sciences exhibits. The museum also contains exhibits of archaeology and state history. A collection devoted to the early mining days of Idaho is housed in the Boise Basin Museum, in Idaho City.

Other Places to Visit

Silver City, southwest of Boise, is a well-known ghost town. Its old mine workings, old frame buildings (many of which are summer residences), and nearby cemeteries are among the few remnants of the former mining community. Idaho City, northeast of Boise, was also once a major mining center. Now little more than 300 people live there.

The Grand Canyon of the Snake River, designated a national recreation and wilderness area, is a spectacular sight. Tourists can take a four-day boat trip from Homestead, Oregon, to Lewiston through the rushing waters of the canyon’s main gorge, or enjoy shorter jet boat trips departing from Lewiston.

Among Idaho’s many other natural wonders is Thousand Springs. Located near Buhl, in southern Idaho, it is a group of natural springs that cascade from canyon walls along the Snake River. Shoshone Falls, also on the Snake River, are higher than Niagara Falls and drop 65 m (212 ft) over a horseshoe-shaped rim. On the river directly above Shoshone Falls are Twin Falls, with a 41-m (135-ft) drop. Idaho has hundreds of caves, many of them unexplored. The Shoshone Ice Caves, which are located north of Shoshone Falls, contain remarkable ice formations. Other notable caves include Crystal Ice Cave, near American Falls, and Minetonka Cave, near Paris. Erosion has formed Balanced Rock, southwest of Buhl. Through the ages, wind erosion has worn away the bottom part of the massive rock, which is 12 m (40 ft) high and now rests in a seemingly precarious balance on a base only 1 m (3 ft) wide.