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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.
Source: MSN
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