sluggo

On Saturday, September 13, my husband and I will visit Craters of the Moon National Monument and drive to Ketchum or Twin Falls before driving to Boise Sunday. We'd be able to explore either town from late Saturday afternoon to noon or so Sunday. Which would be the better choice? Ketchum seems to be a nice area with beautiful scenery, while Twin Falls has the falls.

This will be our first and only trip to Idaho and comes at the end of a trip the included C'ouer d'Alene, Glacier National Park, Missoula, Yellowstone and Grand Teton/Jackson.

Thank you.

tomfuller

Missoula is not that impressive to me. Why not head to Gardiner on the north gate of Yellowstone so you can spend a few more hours in Yellowstone?
You will have seen the most beautiful scenery in the Rockies before you get to Craters of the Moon IMO.
Last August I worked on a PIT project about 10 miles north of Gardiner. I left about 10AM and spent several hours in Yellowstone before heading to Boise. I stayed that night in a hotel right next to the airport. Stop and see the Falls if you want to see them.
I did see a huge plume of smoke from a forest fire that day. I'm hoping that fires don't keep you out of the area you want to see.

Dayle

I would definitely recommend Ketchum and the Sun Valley area. It would be even better with 2 nights in the area.

I think Tom misread your post, as your trip already includes Yellowstone.

Late in the season, you do run the risk of wildfires. Hopefully the Rocky Mtn. west will be fortunate enough not to have bad fires this year.

Have fun!

sluggo

Thank you for your quick replies, tomfuller and Dayle.

Tomfuller, we're driving down from Glacier and visiting the National Bison and Ninepies refuges, so Missoula is a convenient spot to spend the night before driving on to the Mammoth area of Yellowstone. We'll have four nights in the park and spent four days there 10 years ago.

Dayle, I wish we had the extra days for Sun Valley (or another area), but we have to fly home from Boise that Sunday morning.

I hadn't thought about wildfires and hope they are not an issue.

juliae_mei

Hello!

I live in Boise and spend a lot of time in Sun Valley/Ketchum. Twin Falls is a nice place, but it is a tough little hard-working town without much to see. Twin Falls is out of your way on the way to Boise anyway. It is about 3 hours from Ketchum to Boise and you can go west to Fairfield if you don't mind a two lane state highway or just go south to Gooding, west to I-84 and into Boise in about an hour. After your trip, I don't think that you will be happy to see those falls. I would definitely stay in Stanley and/or Ketchum (Sun Valley is a resort within the town of Ketchum). There are nice hiking trails right around Ketchum on Baldy Mtn and Dollar, several square blocks of high-end shops and cowboy places, all very fun and nice. We always stay at Sun Valley Lodge, but you would also stay in Stanley at Smiley Creek Lodge - it is glamour vs. rugged cowboy/nature.

Don't worry about wildfires, they torment us all summer, but only really with smoke. The wildland firefighters are amazing and every resource is thrown at wildfires to keep them from populated areas and roads. The smoke is worse than the fires.

sluggo

Thank you, juliae_mei. It's helpful to hear from a local. I think Twin Falls is now off the table and I'll look at lodging in the Sun Valley area to extend our "cowboy" experience.

KetchumFoodie

Go stay in Ketchum and Sun Valley area since you can do hiking and biking with your kids. You should visit Silvertip..

azzure

Highway 75 out of Sun Valley, is beautiful and in September the aspens in the Sawtooth valley may be showing fall color.

sluggo

Thanks, everyone. I've booked the night in Ketchum.

Tomsd

Have at least a drink at the "Pio" - the classic Pioneer Inn in Ketchum - a vertible museuem of Idaho plus good steaks and fresh fish.

sluggo

Thank you for the dining tip. Tomsd. I just checked out The Pioneer Saloon's website, menu and video and can't wait to go. It's perfect for us.

azzure

I found Sun Valley Lodge to be very interesting with all its old movie star photos, the ice rink and the theater that only shows Sonja Henne movies.