My Idaho Bucket List
Even though I’ve lived in Idaho for the majority of my life, I haven’t been to as many places around the state as I wish I have! There really are so many cool places to visit in the state; I promise it’s not all potatoes! (Though would that really be so bad? As a potato fanatic, I think not!)
I’ve been fortunate to visit lots of cool places, like when we took a day trip to City of Rocks National Reserve, wine tasted along the Sunnyslope Wine Trail, traveled to Stanley to see the total solar eclipse in 2017, hiked at Shoofly Oolite, skied at local ski and snowboard areas, visited the Idaho Potato Museum, and so much more!
Inspired by my Utah bucket list written a few years ago (I’ve checked some of those places off the list since then!), I compiled a relatively random list of places I want to visit and things I still want to do in Idaho, the beautiful state I call home. Here’s my (current) Idaho bucket list! Maybe it’ll inspire a trip for you, too? (Once things are safe again, of course!)
My Idaho Bucket List
1. Big Idaho Potato Hotel
The Big Idaho Potato Hotel is at the top of my list of places to stay! It’s the perfect kitschy Airbnb and basically my dream—it’s literally A GIANT POTATO MADE INTO A HOTEL!!! (Kinda, it’s just one room, haha.) Plus, there’s a luxurious bathroom (not in the potato) and a cute, friendly lil cow that lives on site. I’m dying to do a staycation here but Korri isn’t convinced…yet. Working on it. 😉 (The host also converted an old fire lookout in the mountains of north Idaho into an Airbnb!)
2. Thousand Springs + Snake River cruise
The Thousand Springs area of southern Idaho is along the Snake River and is comprised of Thousand Springs State Park and Ritter Island. Hagerman, the Hagerman Horse, and the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument are nearby as is the Malad Gorge. It’s an area that is exactly how it sounds: there are thousands of small springs that stream out seemingly out of nowhere along the hillsides surrounding the Snake River. I’m dying to go and explore the area as well as do a cruise with 1000 Springs! (They offered lunch and dinner cruises pre-pandemic, which sounded awesome!)
3. Minidoka National Historic Site
The Minidoka National Historic Site is a heart-wrenching yet important historic site located in southern Idaho. Idaho used to be home to one of ten Japanese internment camps, which started after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the historic site is there to teach us to never let something like that happen again.
4. Pomerelle Ski Area
I mentioned in my Idaho Gem post about ski and snowboard resorts in Idaho that Pomerelle is at the top of my list when it comes to ski areas I want to visit! I’m definitely not a big skier, but I learned how to ski when I was younger and have kept my skills for the most part. There’s something about Pomerelle that intrigues me. It’s in a seemingly random location in south-central Idaho and receives 40 feet of snow per year! (It’s also close to City of Rocks.)
5. Horseback riding with the Nez Perce Tribe
The Nimiipuu are native to Idaho and used to occupy land over Washington and Oregon as well. The Nez Perce Reservation is located in north-central Idaho. If you’re familiar with the Appaloosa horse, the Nimiipuu are famous for breeding them and even crossed them with Akhal-Teke horses to a create breed called the Nez Perce Horse. I really want to go on a horseback riding tour with Nez Perce Tourism to learn more about the Nimiipuu people, homelands, and way of life. They also offer jet boat tours through Hells Canyon and multi-day journeys!
6. Minnetonka Cave
Minnetonka Cave is located near the stunningly beautiful Bear Lake in southeast Idaho. Korri and I watched an episode of Outdoor Idaho, a locally-produced PBS show, where we learned about the cave and I made a mental note of it. We have since visited Bear Lake (this was on my Utah bucket list because it straddles Utah and Idaho), but since we were there in the off season, nothing was open. Not that we had time to do anything—we were just taking the long way home from Logan, Utah—but we decided we have to go back sometime and I would like to visit Minnetonka Cave, too! I just think caves are so cool.
7. St. Anthony Sand Dunes
There are a couple of places in Idaho with sand dunes—Bruneau Sand Dunes and St. Anthony Sand Dunes. Bruneau is just south of Mountain Home in southwest Idaho, and St. Anthony is clear over in eastern Idaho north of Idaho Falls. I’ve been to Bruneau multiple times (they have an awesome observatory!), but I’ve not ever been to St. Anthony. I’m not sure how much I’d like it; I’m not a huge fan of sand getting everywhere, but part of Napoleon Dynamite was filmed there so that’s why it made the list. Ha! (And yes, I’ve been to Preston, where the majority of the movie was filmed!)
8. Dog Bark Park Inn
The Dog Bark Park Inn in Cottonwood, Idaho, is another kitschy bed and breakfast located inside the world’s largest beagle! You can see it from the highway, and I’ve only driven past it a couple of times but I really hope to make a pit stop there sometime. (Can you tell I have a thing for silly roadside attractions and unique, local accommodations?) Other things to do in the Cottonwood area of north-central Idaho is to visit Saint Gertrude’s Monastery and ski at Cottonwood Butte.
9. Coeur d’Alene
Coeur d’Alene (or CDA as the locals call it) is a major city located in north Idaho just east of Spokane, Washington. Lake Coeur d’Alene is located south of the city and boasts all of the water activities you can imagine. I’d love to explore the CDA area just because it seems pretty up there!
10. Wallace
Wallace, Idaho, might be the most random location on my bucket list and yet is one of the places I want to visit most. Wallace is located in the Silver Valley of north Idaho, east of Coeur d’Alene along I-90. The entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places! I mainly want to visit because Wallace is the self-proclaimed center of the universe. Other things to do in Wallace include silver mine tours, visiting mining museums, checking out local breweries, and many outdoor activities, including biking the Route of the Hiawatha trail.
Honorable mentions include: an overnight stay in Stanley complete with a dip in a hot springs, getting pampered at The Springs in Idaho City, visiting Hells Canyon (though I’m not sure that I’m down for a jet boat tour…eeep!), skiing at Soldier Mountain, and revisiting a bunch of old favorites, like City of Rocks and Bear Lake! We’re also big fans of the Driggs area.
It’d be cool to explore more of north Idaho, too, and even go farther north than Coeur d’Alene. I was a little heavy on the things to do in south Idaho just because I’m more familiar with it!
Are any of these places on your Idaho bucket list? If not, are you adding them now? (Do it!)
Want to know about more places to visit in Idaho? Check out my Idaho Gem series!