![]() ![]() ![]() A delightful weekly farmers’ market sets up in the town square in the warmer months.Īfter a few days spent driving, you may want to take time to slow down and reflect on your journey. Head to The Covey for wood-fired cooking, or try the Lebanese spiced chicken at the upscale Town Square Tavern. You won’t find a McDonald’s here: Local laws prohibit chain restaurants, so the dining options are impressive. Main Street, with the boutique Limelight hotel, a Wild West–style saloon, and a brand-new performing arts center, draws comparisons to Aspen’s downtown, but is smaller with a much more laid-back vibe. The area’s creature comforts are a nice counterpoint to the wild thrills found road-tripping along Highways 21 and 75. And for a fee, Don and Erin will deliver a home-cooked dinner right to your yurt door.Įmerging from the rugged mountain passes of Sawtooth National Forest, you’ll find yourself in the surprisingly cosmopolitan town of Ketchum, adjacent to the resort city of Sun Valley, a prized landing spot for skiers. The lodge also features a sauna and a pair of “ loaner dogs” that guests can bring along on hikes. In the summer, there are hiking trails galore-including access to the lush prairie landscape and aspen stands of Harriman Trail-so you can plan a different adventure each day. In winter, wood-burning stoves in the yurts keep overnight guests warm, and the rental fee includes snowshoe passes (yes, in this part of the country you need a pass to snowshoe through the woods). And that’s just how the owners, husband-and-wife team Don Shepler and Erin Zell, like it. There’s no electricity, cell service, or internet at the family-owned Galena Lodge, a day lodge with four rentable yurts nestled in the Boulder Mountains off Highway 75. “It’s the furthest away from a city or town you can get,” Hopkinson says.) Galena Lodge (Rocky Mountain River Tours also offers multiday, all-inclusive rafting trips deep into the area. Early pioneers who ventured upriver found that the current was too strong to allow them to sail back-hence the nickname. With Stanley-based Rocky Mountain River Tours, that can mean a few hours of stand-up paddleboarding on the Salmon, aka the River of No Return, a winding route walled in by high canyons that cuts into the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness, the largest chunk of roadless wilderness in the lower 48 states. (Due to harsh winters, the best time to make the drive is May through September.) Finally, the route veers into Sun Valley, a springtime skiing haven and unlikely celebrity magnet. The route runs through the tiny historic town of Stanley, where it turns into the equally gorgeous-though more wooded-Highway 75, also known as the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. Road-trippers pass old mining towns, inviting hot springs (central Idaho is full of them), and windy forest access roads that funnel into remote sections of wilderness. One of the best routes starts outside Boise on Highway 21, also known as the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway. The best way to take in the high mountains, clear rivers, and rolling fields packed into all this space? Hit the open road on some of Idaho’s 30 scenic byways. “Idaho has the most public lands of any state in the nation,” notes Jared Hopkinson, longtime Idaho resident and owner of Rocky Mountain River Tours, a local adventure outfitter. But Idaho actually leads the pack in pure open space-more than two-thirds of the state is public land, and almost a tenth of its acreage is federally protected wilderness. West, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona get top billing because of their famous national parks. ![]() **The Forest Service advises carrying a bucket, axe and a shovel with you when traveling this road.įrom the Red River Ranger Station, you can follow gravel roads over to Red River Hot Springs where there is the lodge offers day use rates.When it comes to natural beauty in the U.S. This is 110 miles of dirt road over to Darby, MT and is reputed to be the longest continuous stretch of dirt road without any services in the West. Please be aware, the last 3-4 miles of the road to Dixie are well-maintained compacted gravel however.įor those who don't mind dirt roads, the Southern Nez Perce Trail can be picked up beyond Red River Ranger Station. From the Ranger Station, you can follow this road another ~15 miles to Dixie. This road is paved to the old Red River Ranger Station. Just before Elk City, you will see the intersection with Red River Road. Alternatively, you can simply retrace the route to enjoy the scenery again. This route displayed includes returning through Grangeville, ID and up US95. ![]()
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