Idaho: fun stuff to do?

[Pond, James Pond]

So let’s say I had a better half and that better half knew someone who was to be placed in Idaho for a year.

So this would make visiting what looks like a spectacularly beautiful state a possibility!

Speaking selfishly, what would a cartridge-based pyrophile find in Idaho to feed the obsession?

Or indeed what are any other notable things to do whilst there?

[Ricklin]

Idaho is very diverse, it does really depend on the part of Idaho you are visiting.
We are not in Kansas anymore Toto.
I like the North end of the state best. Now that most of the crazies found somewhere better to be.

[TXAZ]

Cour de Alene is gorgeous! And there are a lot of firearms / facilities there.

[DaleA]

Disclaimer: I've only spent a week in Boise, Id on business and I didn't get out of the city. I thought it was a very nice, clean, modern city with all the amenities a person would expect.

What time of year will you be in Idaho and how long will you be there? Will you have a rental car and how many days will you have "on your own"?

I certainly hope they let you off the leash for some travel time. There are a lot of parks and forests in that part of the country and while you have to do some driving to get to them the drive itself can be fun and give you some idea of the large amounts of lands and forests this country still has.

So: here's some stuff you might want to look up if you have a few days extra to drive around.

Craters of the Moon Park.
Yellowstone National
Bonneville Salt Flats (lots of gun guys are car guys too!)

Good luck.

[FrankenMauser]

Time of year can be a big determining factor in what can and/or should be done.

For example, US Highway 12, from Lolo, Montana, to Lewiston, Idaho, is an incredible drive during peak run-off season - generally May/June. It's over 100 miles between Lolo and Kooskia, winding along the (Lochsa and then Selway) river bank, in steep canyons, with no way out, few places to stop, usually no fuel at the one remaining gas station in the gorge, ridiculous scenery, and a 3,900 ft elevation change. High water is impressive. But, later in the year - especially late summer - it's just a small river with more bugs out to bite and annoy while the humidity and heat can be oppressive.



The same can go for gun-related things.
There's an outfit outside of Shoshone, Idaho, for example, that offers pig and sheep hunting. They'll let you use any weapon you want, except for full-size vehicles. Spear, knife, blow-gun, MG42, ATV equipped with spikes... whatever you want, so long as it's legally possessed and used, is likely to be lethal, and won't hurt additional animals.
They do NOT, however, allow hunting during the summer. Not only is it too hot and dry for humans to have an enjoyable time, but it is too hard on the animals that get pushed around in the heat.

They also do not allow hunting during the winter, because the snow is usually deep enough to prevent vehicle access and also creates unstable ice bridges over the natural crevices and open lava tubes. The last thing they need is a customer falling through an ice bridge and getting seriously injured in a lava tube.

Spring is hunting season, there. And, if they have enough breeding stock last through the summer, there may be some opportunities "just before the snow starts sticking" (generally October).


Where you end up, and how far you're willing to travel, could be just as important.
For example...
If you're in Post Falls/Coeur d'Alene, ID, you can get to Seattle, WA, quicker than you can get to West Yellowstone, MT (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming border).
The same goes for Post Falls to Boise, on the same side of the state. Although the difference is only 80-odd miles, the roads traveled between Post Falls and Boise add 2-3 hours of travel time vs Post Falls to Seattle.

I live in Southeast Idaho. I can drive the entire length of Utah and on to Las Vegas, NV, quicker than I can drive to the Post Falls/Coeur d'Alene area in my own state.

Here's a map that may help:

[Pond, James Pond]

Love the map there!!

I think the placement is in Boise. If we go we’ll stay with my girlfriend’s friend but we’ll not be stuck there. He might even come with us to sight-see too. And I may have my daughters also. A great opportunity for them if I can afford the tickets!

[FITASC]

There's elk hunting, trout fishing, salmon fishing, etc. The drive from out of Boise up to Sandpoint is a great drive. Coming up out of Lewiston and you're up on the grand Palouse



Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint and their respective lakes are very pretty

[Aguila Blanca]

Glacier National Park is actually in Montana, but not all that far from Idaho. It's closer to much of Idaho than it is to most parts of Montana.

[langenc]

At one time, 6 or more yrs ago, Cabelas in Boise (as I recall) had Elmer Keiths gun collection on display.

I seem to recall that it is no longer the case, esp since Bass Pro bought cabelas.

Might want to check it out. however.

[Armed_Chicagoan]

Yellowstone NP, you have to go there! The more time you can spend there the better, just to drive a car on all the roads would take a week but surely you'll want to hike some trails.

[MoscowMike]

If you are in the area in May next year, consider going to Boomershoot - east of Moscow (Idaho)

http://www.boomershoot.org/general/general.htm

Long range precision marksmanship at exploding targets. It's been running for several years, getting bigger all the time.

I know more about North Idaho than South. Up here we have great hiking and forests, hunting, fishing, hot springs, silver mines, a family friendly nudist resort near Worley, the biggest wilderness area in the lower 48 - 2.37 million acres in the Frank Church - and Hell's Canyon, the deepest canyon.

Depends on what you have fun doing.


People have a funny habit of taking as 'natural' whatever they are used to -- but there hasn't been any 'natural' environment, the way they mean it, since men climbed down out of trees.
- R A Heinlein

[FITASC]

Amen FrankenMauser! You and I have had similar experiences in similar locations.

[Pond, James Pond]

Idaho has mountains. That there is already a win considering where I live now!

[Scorch]

When you're in Boise, it's 1/2 hour to the mountains, 1/2 hour to the desert. You can shoot, fish, hunt, ski, and soak in a hot spring all on the same day, if the season is right. I love SW Idaho.

[TrueBlue711]

I was born and raised in the north Idaho area. Definitely God's country. As already mentioned, north and south Idaho are very different but still have plenty to do either way. LOTS of open/public land to shoot on. Hunting/fishing/camping is a no brainer and all over the state.

As far as north Idaho goes:
See if you can rent a boat for a week or so during summer. Lake Coeur d'Alene is connected to about 10 other lakes via river(s); each lake beautiful to visit. Spend some time going from lake to lake and fish/camp/picnic/swim/etc. Lake Coeur d'Alene is big and beautiful, but can get pretty busy in the summer months (big tourist location, TONS of boaters). But many of the other lakes are secluded and odds are you won't see anybody.

Another good way to see a lot of beautiful scenery without crowds of people is The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. It's a 72 mile paved bike trail that goes through mountains, along rivers and lakes, through small towns, etc. Rent some bicycles for that.

It's not in north Idaho, but Craters of the Moon is another cool national park to visit. It's not far from Pocatello.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions about north Idaho.

P.S. Us Idahoans would like our state to stay the best kept secret in America. If you hear of any anti-gun or super liberal friends talking about moving there, tell them it's a terrible place and they won't like it haha (but really, they're not welcome).

[FrankenMauser]

It's not in north Idaho, but Craters of the Moon is another cool national park to visit. It's not far from Pocatello.

...Best enjoyed in the Spring or Autumn, however. During the summer, the wind and heat make the area feel like a giant convection oven and are more than most people can handle. There are no places to take refuge in the shade - especially not in air conditioning.

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I'm not having any luck with internet searches. Do any of the Boise people know if there's still a range there with full-auto rentals?

[FishinLuke]

Originally Posted by FrankenMauser

...Best enjoyed in the Spring or Autumn, however. During the summer, the wind and heat make the area feel like a giant convection oven and are more than most people can handle. There are no places to take refuge in the shade - especially not in air conditioning.

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I'm not having any luck with internet searches. Do any of the Boise people know if there's still a range there with full-auto rentals?

Independence Indoor Shooting has full auto rentals as well as a 100 yard indoor range. It's located in Meridian off the freeway. Really nice facility with gunsmithing services, and a full sales store.

Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Kuna, Eagle are all in the Treasure Valley.

Best season here in Idaho by far is the fall September-November (with October being the best), beautiful weather, still longerish days; and lots of outdoor stuff to do. What is really appealing to me is the great amount of public lands to go and explore, shoot on, hunt, etc.; all within 15-20 minutes of where I live.

[ballardw]

South of Boise - Birds of Prey refuge area if you like big raptors though somewhat seasonal.
Typical western activities in season-Snake River Stampede rodeo
Fishing in the Boise River in the city limits
Walking hiking- Boise Green Belt walkways along the Boise River for longer than most people can walk in a day, path ways in the foot hills north of town.
Boise is pretty bicycle friendly
Floating the Boise River from a park up stream down the middle of town is a popular summer activity. For those that like more exciting water Payette River less than an hour from Boise has some white water activities. For longer trips the Salmon River or "River of No Return" float trips, so called because most boats couldn't make it up stream for a long time.
Sawtooth Recreation area has some fairly spectacular views and is a couple of hours north of Boise with various levels of day and over night hiking/camping.
If interested in rock hounding there are lots of possibilities depending on interests.
Craters of the Moon National Monument about 3.5 hours east of Boise if interested in volcanic features. Take a jacket if going into the lava tubes, some are quite cool even in July or August.

I'll stop here. Resident of Boise off and on since 1966.

[RETG]

As noted, plenty of Federal lands to shoot on safely! Idaho is number 3 for the amount of land percentage owned by the Fed government (NV is 1, UT is 2 and neither should be forgotten for traveling around in since they are close).
Plenty of hunting if you are into that.
So much to see, so much to do, but just relaxing in the recliner looking at those pesky mountain across the border in WY is great too.

[FrankenMauser]

As noted, plenty of Federal lands to shoot on safely! Idaho is number 3 for the amount of land percentage owned by the Fed government (NV is 1, UT is 2 and neither should be forgotten for traveling around in since they are close).

In my opinion, the public land in Utah is more accessible to the average person. Far more of Idaho's public land is 'locked up' as wilderness, or landlocked inside private land with little access (often "walk-in-only", if at all).
I like Idaho, and there's still plenty of land to go around.
But I miss the easier access to public land in Utah.

[FunGramps]

Northern Idaho Panhandle.Much normality remains there, and few Pyrophobes! Where shooting, hunting, fishing and most all outdoor sports are staples.

[RETG]

FrankenMauser

No argument here. I used to live in Moab and it was five minutes in either direction to BLM lands to shoot; Legally and Safely.

Idaho's lands are mostly forest too, whereas Utah had millions of acres of sand to shoot in.

[reloader28]

FrankenMauser, the guy that had the pig hunt in Twin Falls also ran a tourist cave of some kind. I dont remember the name of it.

We hunted pigs there about 15 years ago and a friend went back the next year and got a sheep. I think he had Fallow deer too

[FITASC]

If you want access to public land, go to NV - 85% of the state; you can get into some areas where you will not see another person for days or weeks at a time.

[mdThanatos]

I wish I could convince my wife to move up there, she thinks I am crazy though.