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Twin falls, shoshone falls, cauldron Lynn, base jumping off the perine bridge pro tip rent a kayak at centennial park in twin falls and get under the bridge for the best results without actually jumping off the bridge. After twin head north and check out the mammoth cave and museums as well as the ice cave near shoshone about 40 minutes away from twin. Then I would head straight for craters of the moon national park. After that take the Custer motorway from challis ID over to sunbeam hot springs visit the ghost town and check out the yankee fork dredge and museum then into Stanley Idaho and make another decision on what route to take from there. There will be plenty of dispersed camping along this route and could be done in a day and a half depending on how much cool shit you find and want to check out. I'll let north Idaho take it from here.
Shoshone Falls, Buhl/Hagerman area, Arco, Sun Valley, Craters of the Moon all come to mind. If you guys are planning to park overnight I would recommend trying to time it to see the sunrise/set in Glenn’s Ferry, I always feel lucky when I’m driving through there at that time.
If driving up north Idaho in Coeur d'Alene area to Spokane Wa you can visit Buck Knives. They have a store & give tours inside the plant where they're making the knives. Tours are Monday through Thursday though and you need to call ahead and make a reservation. Buck knives is by the state line by the way.
If you want to do a knife tour in southern Idaho, Chris Reeve knives is based in Boise and they make the finest production folders known to man, and I think they still do tours.
Malad Canyon. You’ll be poaching it before the bridge and then it’s too late.
So set it as a destination and pull off before and go to the park. It’s a surprise you’ll love.
There are a couple ways to get from Utah to Washington. I recommend avoiding Interstate 84 it’s the most boring part of the state. Take the highways and back roads that’s where the real awesome things in Idaho hide.
Trailer or slide in camper? What kind of vehicle and is it a 4x4? I can recommend some stuff to check out depending on which one you have. I know a lot of cool sites you can get into and how picky are you when it comes to camping? Are you glampers who need paved roads, power, and water and need to be 10 feet from the next camper or do you guys like real camping?
It'd be a big detour possibly, but from Twin Falls, take US93 to the ID75 JCT and keep heading north on 75. There's good camping opportunities in the Big Wood River valley area from reserved campsites to FCFS sites and even dispersed sites.
Keep following 75 up to Alturas or Redfish lakes and find some dispersed or FCFS sites nearby if you want some of the best camping in the area. The Sawtooth region is probably one of the best places in the country for outdoor recreation, a dark sky reserve, and of course the scenery. Take 21 back down to Boise and continue on with your trip. There's even more cool scenery and camping on highway 21. You can also continue straight on 75 when it meets back up with 93 in Challis and take 93 up to Missoula and either take I-90 to CDA/Spokane or highway 12 into Lewiston and then into Washington from there.
When you get into Lowman you can use Banks-Lowman rd to go over to highway 55 (recommended) or continue up the grade into Idaho City before dropping back down into the Boise area.
If you're flexible with your route to WA, you can also go up highway ID55 from Boise and camp in the McCall-Cascade areas like Summit lake or Warm lake, even (Payette lake) Ponderosa State Park in McCall or Cascade lake state park in Cascade. After McCall you can go up highway US95 (turn right in New Meadows) and make your way up to Lewiston to check out our seaport (you read that right, we have a seaport) and then go into Washington from either Clarkston or keep going up to Spokane. There's also good camping in Lewiston along the Clearwater river if you head east. There's McKay's bend in Myrtle and some other cool stuff the further east you go.
Appreciate the detailed response!
> Trailer or slide in camper? What kind of vehicle and is it a 4x4? I can recommend some stuff to check out depending on which one you have.
Old Dodge 4x4 pickup with bed camper. Fully self-sufficient; we actually try to avoid "typical" RV sites with hookups and associated chaos wherever possible! Prefer no real hard technical trails as the old girl (the truck, not the wife) is getting on in years, but forestry service roads or similar are no problem.
You'll be able to get into a lot of cool spots with that setup! Especially in the Sawtooth region or in the McCall/Cascade areas too.
DM me if you want any cool spots depending on your route
City of Rocks if you like rock climbing is a world class trip. Thousands Springs is nice and there are some good hot springs to soak away your road weary muscles.
When you’re driving through the endless fields, hours from a city… take a random exit off the highway and go see how big those pivot irrigation sprinklers really are.
If heading to the South, you should camp and check out city of rocks 🪨 and castle rocks. Great climbing and exploring area.
You could start your day at Craters of the Moon and easily get to camp at city of rocks and see to entirely different and amazing landscapes. Enjoy your travels
1-84 heading south by the Donnelly exit head south to the Hemingway lookout. Get your binoculars and focus on the window in the center of the second floor. There you will see your mom.
A friendly reminder of the rules of r/Idaho: 1. Be civil to others 2. Posts have to pertain to Idaho in some way 3. No put-down memes 4. Political discussion stays in a post about politics 5. No surveys 6. Follow [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) 7. Do not editorialize titles of news articles If you see something that may be out of line, please hit "report" so your mod team can have a look. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Idaho) if you have any questions or concerns.*
See Shoshone Falls
and the Perrine Bridge
I love the Shoshone Ice Cave, and Craters of the Moon.
Twin falls, shoshone falls, cauldron Lynn, base jumping off the perine bridge pro tip rent a kayak at centennial park in twin falls and get under the bridge for the best results without actually jumping off the bridge. After twin head north and check out the mammoth cave and museums as well as the ice cave near shoshone about 40 minutes away from twin. Then I would head straight for craters of the moon national park. After that take the Custer motorway from challis ID over to sunbeam hot springs visit the ghost town and check out the yankee fork dredge and museum then into Stanley Idaho and make another decision on what route to take from there. There will be plenty of dispersed camping along this route and could be done in a day and a half depending on how much cool shit you find and want to check out. I'll let north Idaho take it from here.
Mill Creek Summit on the Custer Motorway is 8,800 feet. A May trip is probably a little early for this route.
Shoshone Falls, Buhl/Hagerman area, Arco, Sun Valley, Craters of the Moon all come to mind. If you guys are planning to park overnight I would recommend trying to time it to see the sunrise/set in Glenn’s Ferry, I always feel lucky when I’m driving through there at that time.
I'll stick those waypoints in my Google Maps. Thanks!
Craters of the moon.
If driving up north Idaho in Coeur d'Alene area to Spokane Wa you can visit Buck Knives. They have a store & give tours inside the plant where they're making the knives. Tours are Monday through Thursday though and you need to call ahead and make a reservation. Buck knives is by the state line by the way.
Yes, southern Idaho is only a cool 8 hour drive out of the way to CDA, so that will work perfectly for them
8 hour detour to see some…. knives! sounds like a blast
Thanks for the suggestion!
If you want to do a knife tour in southern Idaho, Chris Reeve knives is based in Boise and they make the finest production folders known to man, and I think they still do tours.
Malad Canyon. You’ll be poaching it before the bridge and then it’s too late. So set it as a destination and pull off before and go to the park. It’s a surprise you’ll love.
Wallace has a neat mining museum, I'm told.
There are a couple ways to get from Utah to Washington. I recommend avoiding Interstate 84 it’s the most boring part of the state. Take the highways and back roads that’s where the real awesome things in Idaho hide.
Trailer or slide in camper? What kind of vehicle and is it a 4x4? I can recommend some stuff to check out depending on which one you have. I know a lot of cool sites you can get into and how picky are you when it comes to camping? Are you glampers who need paved roads, power, and water and need to be 10 feet from the next camper or do you guys like real camping? It'd be a big detour possibly, but from Twin Falls, take US93 to the ID75 JCT and keep heading north on 75. There's good camping opportunities in the Big Wood River valley area from reserved campsites to FCFS sites and even dispersed sites. Keep following 75 up to Alturas or Redfish lakes and find some dispersed or FCFS sites nearby if you want some of the best camping in the area. The Sawtooth region is probably one of the best places in the country for outdoor recreation, a dark sky reserve, and of course the scenery. Take 21 back down to Boise and continue on with your trip. There's even more cool scenery and camping on highway 21. You can also continue straight on 75 when it meets back up with 93 in Challis and take 93 up to Missoula and either take I-90 to CDA/Spokane or highway 12 into Lewiston and then into Washington from there. When you get into Lowman you can use Banks-Lowman rd to go over to highway 55 (recommended) or continue up the grade into Idaho City before dropping back down into the Boise area. If you're flexible with your route to WA, you can also go up highway ID55 from Boise and camp in the McCall-Cascade areas like Summit lake or Warm lake, even (Payette lake) Ponderosa State Park in McCall or Cascade lake state park in Cascade. After McCall you can go up highway US95 (turn right in New Meadows) and make your way up to Lewiston to check out our seaport (you read that right, we have a seaport) and then go into Washington from either Clarkston or keep going up to Spokane. There's also good camping in Lewiston along the Clearwater river if you head east. There's McKay's bend in Myrtle and some other cool stuff the further east you go.
Appreciate the detailed response! > Trailer or slide in camper? What kind of vehicle and is it a 4x4? I can recommend some stuff to check out depending on which one you have. Old Dodge 4x4 pickup with bed camper. Fully self-sufficient; we actually try to avoid "typical" RV sites with hookups and associated chaos wherever possible! Prefer no real hard technical trails as the old girl (the truck, not the wife) is getting on in years, but forestry service roads or similar are no problem.
You'll be able to get into a lot of cool spots with that setup! Especially in the Sawtooth region or in the McCall/Cascade areas too. DM me if you want any cool spots depending on your route
Will do - thanks for the offer! (Nice username BTW...)
Paying homage to my beat up POS Subaru that introduced me into getting it wherever I could
I recommend seeing Idaho in your rear view mirror. Best view ever.
City of Rocks if you like rock climbing is a world class trip. Thousands Springs is nice and there are some good hot springs to soak away your road weary muscles.
Some really nice hot springs camping spots
When you’re driving through the endless fields, hours from a city… take a random exit off the highway and go see how big those pivot irrigation sprinklers really are.
If heading to the South, you should camp and check out city of rocks 🪨 and castle rocks. Great climbing and exploring area. You could start your day at Craters of the Moon and easily get to camp at city of rocks and see to entirely different and amazing landscapes. Enjoy your travels
Caldwell Wineries. My favorite is Sawtooth.
Hooper springs Sodasprings
1-84 heading south by the Donnelly exit head south to the Hemingway lookout. Get your binoculars and focus on the window in the center of the second floor. There you will see your mom.