Idaho travel guide

Get ready for adventure in Idaho, where sitting still is simply off the menu. Spuds are definitely are on the menu however; Idaho is the number one potato producer in the USA and the humble root vegetable is synonymous with the state. So are jewels. Nearly every known gemstone has been found in Idaho, which is affectionately dubbed the Gem State.

Of course, there’s much more to Idaho than spuds and stones. Nestling on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, the state dishes up a hefty dollop of stellar scenery: evergreen forests, raging rivers, gnarly lava fields, dazzling mountains and shimmering lakes abound.

Unspoilt, with huge sweeps of wilderness, this sparsely populated state may lack the fame of neighbouring Washington and Montana, but it also lacks the crowds.

Nature shows off its finest and weirdest sides here. Boats barrel along the Snake River through Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest river gorge. Sand dunes higher than the London Eye roll across the high desert of Bruneau Dunes State Park. Mountains and alpine lakes festoon the Sawtooth Wilderness area. And so lunar-like are the lava fields at Craters of the Moon National Monument, NASA astronauts used it for moonwalk training in 1969.

It’s no wonder adventurers are cottoning on to the lure of this little-known state. Rafters and kayakers hurtle through white-water rapids on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Anglers hook more cutthroat trout than they can handle in the Selway River. Horseback riders saddle up and corral cattle on dude ranches. And in winter, skiers and snowboarders eschew lift queues and do their best to keep Idaho’s super-dry powder a secret.