I've driven through the Northern part of Idaho on I-90 once, but have never been to southern ID. I can get some cheap last-minute air/car package for this weekend from Houston to Boise, so I'd like to see some mountains.
From the maps and ID tourism guides, it seem like the Ponderosa Pine scenic byway and the Hell's Canyon scenic byway are both pretty interesting. But I will only have one full day for the driving trip, so I wonder if I can do both, and if not, which is more interesting.
I love mountain and curvy roads. The scarier the better. And high mountain passes are my favorite. But I don't want heavy traffic. I can also drive 10-12 hours a day, solo, with no problem.
Or other roads out of Boise that I should do instead?
Also, I'm looking at some beautiful pictures of Shoshone Falls. Would you consider it a "must see" in southern Idaho?
Thanks for any advice for this likely last-minute trip.
Boise, ID driving trip suggestion?
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I went to Boise expecting nothing...wrong, wrong, wrong. It was fun, great university area, lovely greenway. From there we drove over to Stanley and up to Salmon. It was a fantastic drive very interesting. We had a week and wished for more. Have a wonderful time on your trip.
A couple years ago we drove from Lewiston to Boise on 95 and 55--it was a beautiful. After a night in Boise we drove north on 21 and then south on 75 to Sun Valley.
It was all very scenic, but the drive between Lewiston and Boise is the one that sticks in my mind. As a recall, much of it follows a river.
Have a great trip.
Thanks for the great replies so far. Keep them coming. I'll book my flights, car and hotel right now, so it's definitely a go. I know I'll enjoy the trip.
Again, I wonder if I should go NE towards Salmon or go NW towards Hells Canyon, or both.
Okay, I think I've decided to take the Ponderosa Pine scenic by-way (Hwy 21) out of Boise toward the NE. At Stanley, turn south on Hwy 75 over Galena Pass and down to the Shoshone Falls and the Perrine Bridge (US93). Then back to Boise on I-84.
It should be a pretty decent 400-mile loop, with just enough time to do a tiny bit of sightseeing.
You HAVE to go just north of Boise on the 55 about 1 hour 15 minutes to a great place called Cascade! It is beautiful!! I just heard that it is growing (possibly building a resort?)and will soon be "the" place to go as opposed to Sun Valley. I know a place you can rent jet skiis or a boat in the summer or snow mobiles in the winter right there on Main St. Maybe they will give you a discount if you mention a "vegasnative" referred you...hint, hint. It is to die for, one of the prettiest places I have ever been to!
Does anybody know about the condition of NF-24 between Hwy 55 and 21? I can go north on 55 to Cascade, but then I need to cut east back to 21.
From what I'm reading, a short portion of it is unpaved. I know rental car companies may not let people drive on unpaved road, but I do have a tiny bit of rally and dirt-road experience.
Anybody who has driven that stretch?
Here's what I did on Sun 9/4:
- Left Boise around 6:30am, and headed east on I-84. Stopped at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry.
- Exit US93 South to Twin Falls. There are parking areas on either side of the Perrine Bridge on both banks. One can walk underneath to cross to the other side, and there are sidewalks on the bridge itself. Stopped for a while there to watch people BASE jump from the bridge.
- After breakfast, visited Shoshone Falls ($3/car) and Twin Falls. Crossed Snake River on Hansen Bridge to the east to head back west on I-84 and then turn north on US93.
- Stopped briefly at Shoshone, and then took ID75 Sawtooth Scenic By-way north from there. Didn't stop at the town of Ketchum nor Sun Valley, but I turned right onto Trail Creek Road, up a few miles to find the Ernest Hemmingway Memorial.
- Back onto ID75 and climbed Galena Pass (8,701 ft). Plenty of lookout areas on this route. About 400 vertical feet to the north of the pass is a large scenic lookout to see the Sawtooth Range and the Salmon River valley below.
- Large wildfire NE of Galena Pass.
- Down in the valley, visited the Sawtooth Salmon hatchery. Pretty interesting.
- At Stanley, turned left onto ID21 Ponderosa Scenic By-way. Beautiful road through canyons, with lots of pine trees.
- At Lowman, turned right (west) onto the unnumbered road towards Banks. On some maps, it's known as NF-24, and it's also called Wildlife Canyon Scenic By-way. This is a 40MPH road that hugs the walls of a steep canyon. Amazing drive. For some reason, it's shown as unpaved on some maps, but it is 100% paved and well-marked.
- At Banks, I turned north on ID55 Payette River Scenic By-way up the very beautiful Payette canyon to Cascade. Not much there at the town of Cascade, but the road is pretty.
- Turned back at Cascade, and stopped on the way down to watch people white-water raft.
- Arrived back in Boise at around 8pm. Trip was about 500 miles. 13.5 hours including breakfast and sightseeing.
Now a few comments:
- Idaho people drive slow. Hardly anybody speed (75 on rural interstate, 65 in Boise. Non-interstates range from 40-45 through the canyon to 65 in open areas).
- The new Pontiac G6, with 200-hp 3.5 V6 and crappy "touring" tires are okay on the plains. But in the tight canyons, this car seems out of place. Steering effort is pretty high but provides little feedback. The engine, while powerful, also is pretty rough when pushed hard. Good fuel economy, however, giving me 27MPG for the whole trip, even though I was pushing it pretty hard.
- For people who love driving, Boise and surrounding area provides lots of varied roadways to provide challenge. Fun place for canyon-carving drivers!