Travel Oracles 50 States: Idaho

As part of my summer series - Travel Oracles 50 States - I am revisiting each os the fifty American states as an overview on travel culture and history. Today: Idaho

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Joined: Idaho became the 43rd state to enter the Union on July 3, 1890

Original Indigenous Peoples: There are five federally recognized tribes located in the state of Idaho: the Shoshone-Bannock, the Shoshone-Paiute, the Coeur d'Alene, the Kootenai, and the Nez Perce

First Settlers: Meriwether Lewis and members of the Corps of Discovery entered Idaho for the first time in 1805, making it the last of the U.S. states to be explored by European-Americans.

History moment: Author Ernest Hemingway, who won a Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man in the Sea in 1953 and who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the following year, died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound in his home in Ketchum on July 2, 1961. A memorial, exhibit and festival held near Sun Valley pay tribute to the renowned author’s accomplishments and time spent in Idaho

Known for: Potatoes, trout and precious stones as it is for its unspoiled, rugged landscapes, the Rocky Mountain foothills, Boise River, precious and semi-precious stones

Places: Boise, Sun Valley, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Hills, Sandpoint

Movie setting: Napoleon Dynamite

Musicians from: Norma Zimmer, Judy Lynn, Josh Ritter, (Technically actor bruce willis is also a musician, and he & Demi Moore famously raised their children there when young)

Surprising facts: Idaho produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones. The deepest river gorge in North America is Idaho's Hells Canyon (7,900 ft deep). The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the largest in the lower 48 states-2.3 million acres of backcountry. 63% of Idaho is public land

It’s been said that "Idaho is as America was"—a western frontier with more wild land than developed, and only 1.5 million people scattered throughout our nation’s 14th-largest state. Its big blue skies, pristine waters, and jagged snowcapped horizons have been largely untouched by the masses, making it an outdoors enthusiast’s paradise. Rafters, kayakers, mountain climbers, backcountry skiers, and backpackers flock to Idaho’s untamed center—the treacherous 2.3 million acres of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area (the second-largest protected wilderness in the lower 48 states). Idaho has the most miles of white-water rapids in the continental United States, North America’s deepest gorge, and one of the longest undammed rivers in the country. Let’s Travel to Idaho

My Experience: It’s been ages since I have been, but I had a great-uncle that retired to Sandpoint given his love of the great outdoors, so I have been there and have since had friends mover there too so perhaps a visit is in order. There are a number of natural destinations so for now I will just add two many city points to base yourself in, and also popular things to do

Boise: The "City of Trees" has all the culture and diversity of a growing metropolis, but is still small enough for clean streets, a low crime rate, and a friendly, neighborly feel. Home of the blue-and-orange-uniformed Boise State Broncos, the capital city sprawls alongside the meandering Boise River, where desert meets the foothills of the Rockies. There's a nearby ski area and water-sports reservoir, a local winery, and summer farmers’ market.

Couer d’Alene: Nestled in a pine-green mantle beside a gem of a lake, Coeur d'Alene has perhaps the most idyllic setting of any Idaho town. Restaurants with waterfront dining, a 3,300-foot floating boardwalk, and resort hotels cluster along the water's edge. American bald eagles and the largest population of osprey in the Western United States make their homes here; the watery playground attracts sailors and water-skiers as well. There are also more than 29 golf courses within an hour's drive of the city.

Nature: The six national parks, reserves, historic sites, and monuments in Idaho contain a wide variety of interesting places and experiences. These include: City of Rocks National Reserve, Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve., Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Minidoka National Historic Site., Nez Perce National Historical Park, Yellowstone National Park (*which actually covers northwestern Wyoming and partly in southern Montana and eastern Idaho)

Ranking in US: Per the annual US News report, Idaho is currently ranked #5 out of 50 in 2021, up from #16 in 2019.