What's to see & do in Idaho? Want to take a vacation there.

Idaho is very varied state as far as topography it would be easier to answer if you stated a few likes and dislikes.

southern Idaho is on the Snake river plain, cities include Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, Boise. Mostly desert country but scenic, if you want to be in or near cities that is where the major ones are located.

central Idaho - rural, high desert, high rugged mountains, Salmon river, float trips, fishing. IMO the most scenic part of the state.

northern Idaho - Moscow, Lewiston area, Snake river canyon, near Spokane, rolling hills.

drover

Time of year?

I think Stanley, Id. in the middle of the Sawtooths is spectacular. The drive from Stanley to Salmon, Id. is incredible and even better in the fall. You can drive from Stanley to Challis via an historic FS dirt road that is more fun than a week in Hawaii.

You may surmise that I am a fan. The guys from Idaho on here have given me great advice and I am sure they will help you out.


mike r

If you're a water guy, a rafting trip or a jet boat trip on the Salmon or Snake Rivers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hells+canyon+jet+boat+charters

September

I was there in late September this year. I don't know if those jet boats are running, but there's tons of hiking, fishing, and hunting to do. If you're interested, I'll give you a recommendation on a black bear guide that's very reasonable and awesome to deal with.

I love Idaho!

I drew a moose tag in the panhandle back in 2008 and picked up elk & deer tags to boot. I spent 4.5 weeks hunting and exploring and really enjoyed it.

I've been meaning to get back out there. I'd like to hunt wolf, bear & mountain lion and would be interested in information on good outfitters. I apply for mountain goat each year but no luck yet.

I imagine I'd enjoy a motorcycle trip through the state at the right time of year.

Perfect time. Some great fishing to be had. Idaho is a great state with a lot to see. We really enjoyed http://www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm and Sun Valley / Ketchum are great with new restaurants and make the stunning drive up 75 from there and you can straddle the headwaters of the snake.

As was mentioned before, north and south Idaho are considerably different. The south half is pretty dry with wide open terrain plus the highest mountains in the state, lots over 10k and a number of them over 12k. North it's wetter, greener, and not as high but that doesn't mean it isn't rugged. Up north are also the biggest lakes in the state, Coeur d'Alene and Pend O'Reille. Those are 2 very beautiful ponds.
In between, you have the Frank Church River of No Return wilderness and the main Salmon River which is known for fishing and floating.

Someone mentioned Stanley Basin and the Sawtooth Wilderness area. Here are a few pics of that area.






Redfish Lake in Stanley Basin

Hire an outfit and float the Salmon, bring your shotgun and bird dog, and chase grouse and chukar.

Go see Yellowstone.

Go fish lake Pend oreille.

Do a wolf hunt

Hike the White Clouds.

I'd be either bowhunting deer/elk or grouse hunting that time of year.

There are some Sep 15 rifle deer hunts, but they're pretty remote and you'd be best to hire an outfitter for those.

Other than that the fishing is suburb throughout the state, but I have a hard time fishing when a hunting season is going on.

Actually that would be the headwaters of the Salmon river at the base of Galena summit. The headwaters of the Snake are in western Wyoming.

I read an article in the October 2014 issue of Field & Stream which states that in Idaho, with the proper license, you can hunt any land that is not planted or posted.

KC

Great input. Thank you all.

This is true. We have huge tracts of private land that are rangeland, you can't distinguish them from public land. Often even forest rangers don't know exactly where the boundaries are although new GPS programs are getting very good at identifying them.
The law is that if the land isn't used for crops or irrigated, it must be posted or it's open to hunting. The regs outline exactly what constitutes posting. Fences don't mean anything since the BLM and Forest Svc have many grazing allotments fenced and all of them are open for hunting.

Also, Idaho has a recreational easement on all navigable waters. Navigable, for the most part, is any water deep enough to float a float tube. All waterways up to the normal high water mark are open for recreation. During all seasons other than the spring runoff, there's usually a considerable distance between the water level and the high water mark and it's all open for fishing, hunting, and boating. All docks and duck blinds in this are are open for public use even if built by private people. This does not give you permission to cross private land for access, though. You need to come in by boat or by hiking along the waterline, often almost impossible because of brush and rocks.

Hey you guys in north Idaho...is the part of Lake Coeur d'Alene that's on the Indian res open to the public?

Yes, it is open to the public, but I beleive you have to have special permit to fish in the waters that is theirs. Their patrol is on the water and checking for that permit.

Idaho is my favorite place to go. A bunch of us take a week every spring and travel to central Idaho to ride ATVs. Idaho welcomes you with open arms and says "come enjoy yourself". Unlike washington that only wants your money, but won't let you play. The scenery is spectacular. The boats will still be running the canyon in september. A trip up river to Kirkland and upstream to the dam is a must.

That's a great trip but be careful if you do take a dog. It's a good time of year to overheat or get one snake bit.
Grouse opens on the first but Chukar is mid to late Sept. Jumping Chukar from a boat's pretty easy,,, Grouse,,, not so much so go later in the month if you do.
There's lots of outfitters out of Riggins. (Lots of hippy's too.)
There's also the Jack O'Conner museum in Lewiston if you're into that sort of thing. Or take a tour of the Buck knife factory if you're up in the panhandle.

Whatever you do, have fun and be sure to leave lot's of your hard earned money here.

It is a great place. One of the best decisions we made was to buy a place in the far north panhandle ten years ago. Good people, loads of land to roam, waters to fish and a great place to stay when the Texas summers hit.

Nothing at all there. I'd suggest some of the high country in Kansas.

I'm with 1minute. Nothing to see here, folks...keep moving on...

All kidding aside. You've all summed up all of it fairly well. Depending on what Reloader28 wants to do we could fine tune recommendations.

Not the greatest photo, but here's a common view for me in October, deer hunting, of course: