Unique digital nomad travel adventures from around the U.S.
The Idaho State Parks Challenge consists of visiting all of Idaho’s state parks in one year. We made up this challenge to see a bit more of our beautiful state and help alleviate the restlessness caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions. It was maybe the best …
Missing Idaho State Parks Overview When B and I started our Idaho State Parks Challenge we were a little confused on how many state parks there actually are in Idaho. It seems like this should be pretty clear. So our first step was to get …
Ponderosa State Park is in McCall, Idaho, which is two and a half hours north of Boise. Boiseans enjoy this park in all seasons, with hiking, boating, cross country skiing and mountain biking accessible in a pretty area.
One of the most popular parks in the Idaho State Parks system requires good amenities. You can see the full list on the Park and Rec’s site. Ponderosa State Park has some really nice cabins available to rent, but you can bet your bottom dollar they get snatched up fast.
This place is busy, no matter the time of year.
The 1941 film Northwest Passage featuring Spencer Tracy was filmed on the North Beach of Payette Lake. Also unique, there is an outdoor-focused K-12 school located within the park boundaries.
The idea to turn this part of Payette Lake into a state park started percolating around 1900. However, politics being politics, it took until 1957 to finalize the contract. Loads of people recognized this was hot property during the time that it took to become a park. Idaho Department of Lands owned the property at this time and leased it out to private parties who could see the investment potential. Hence lots of little rentals popped up along the lake’s edge. I can’t fault them.
We visited Ponderosa State Park in February, when McCall hosts its annual Mardi Gras party. February in the Idaho mountains means snow, so we could cross country ski all around the park. We weren’t super great at locating the trail as this park is expansive, but once we got on it we had fun skiing through the pine trees.
Later on in the year during the summer, we went on the same trail that we skied on, but this time just walked. The pine trees provided nice shade from the heat. We wandered to the water and were rewarded with a pretty little beach where we could have gone swimming if we were wearing suits and felt like freezing. This water gets pretty chilly.
Ponderosa State Park is large and in charge. There’s lots to do but because of this, there’s lots of people. The views are lovely though, so it might be worth fighting the crowds.
Note: we visited Ponderosa State Park as part of our Idaho State Parks Challenge. The challenge consists of visiting all of Idaho’s state parks in one year. We made up this challenge to see a bit more of our beautiful state and help alleviate the restlessness caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Feel free to join the challenge!
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Learn a little history or ride a jet boat at the lowest point in Idaho (733 feet) when you visit Hells Gate State Park. The name sounds a lot less inviting than this park actually is. State Park Overview Hells Gate State Park is located …
Heyburn State Park is Idaho’s and the Pacific Northwest’s first state park. Created in 1908 (or 1911, depending on who you ask), this park on the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene set a great example for parks to come. State Park Overview Heyburn State Park …
Forces of nature (wind) tried to keep us away from Farragut State Park by knocking over trees and power lines, but we persevered and got to explore (some) of this beautiful park.
Farragut State Park in northern Idaho is located on the southern bank of the beautiful Lake Pend Oreille. This part of the state features pine trees and strikingly blue lakes, and Farragut State Park is no exception. Unlike most of the other state parks, this place has a crazy history as it was once a military base during World War II. The park is 4,000 acres and will pretty much have something for everyone to do.
Like activities, this park has a lot to offer. There’s a nice visitor center, vault restrooms, showers, even an equestrian campsite. Check out their website for more information.
I cannot speak to the usual crowd situation at Farragut. We had a really weird day there, with lots of wind and the park partially shutting down. I would guess this kept more than a few people away.
This park was used in the war efforts for World War II. Not a lot of places can boast that.
Farragut State Park was once the Farragut Naval Training Station during World War II. In 1942, there were so many soldiers and others at the base that it was the largest city in Idaho. During the war years almost 300,000 soldiers came through here for basic training. Interesting to note—not only Americans live here at that time, they even had some German prisoners of war! The U.S. Navy still maintains a submarine research center in the deep water of Lake Pend Oreille. After the war it became a college and then in 1965 it became a state park.
The story of how it became a park is a weird one–we can thank the Girl Scouts. Farragut State Park was whipped into shape after the opportunity to host the 1965 Girl Scouts Roundup was presented to Idaho legislators. Two years after that the park hosted the 1967 World Boy Scouts Jamboree, the first one located in the United States. So we can thank the Navy and the Scouts for what we nowadays appreciate as Farragut State Park (cuz that’s normal).
We did not get to experience Farragut State Park the way I would have liked to. This bums me out, but this park is so expansive I would love to come back and see more. When we arrived to the visitor center, the rangers informed us that they were contemplating shutting down the park entrance because the wind storm was so bad. Apparently, it was so strong they worried about trees blowing over and landing on people! In addition to that, there was no power in most of Northern Idaho, which meant that the Museum at the Brig which highlighted the military history of the park was closed down.
We told our plight to the friendly rangers (that we were on a quest to visit all the state parks and have a meaningful experience at each one before moving along) and they were nice enough to point out a hiking trail we could go on. We wandered out through the woods to check out the Lynx Trail and then headed back to the car.
Farragut State Park is huge and has multiple entrances. We decided to at least drive past one of the frisbee golf courses and low and behold, it was still open. Knowing our skill level, we decided to try our hand at the junior course. We are not pros but had a lot of fun. It was basically like the Lynx trail, only throwing discs every now and then.
Our last stop was to check out the Lake. We did this down at the town of Bayview, which is not technically part of the park, but did give us a stunning view of Lake Pend Oreille, so I feel confident that boating on this lake would be a worthy endeavor.
Farragut State is big, beautiful, and varied. Even with the park mostly shut down and no electricity, we still managed to have a great time.
Note: we visited Farragut State Park as part of our Idaho State Parks Challenge. The challenge consists of visiting all of Idaho’s state parks in one year. We made up this challenge to see a bit more of our beautiful state and help alleviate the restlessness caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Feel free to join the challenge!
Related posts you might like:
Or if you want to see all of our posts, visit Past Posts.
State Park Overview Coeur d’Alene’s Old Mission State Park (that’s a mouthful so it will hereafter be known as Old Mission State Park) in northern Idaho celebrates the first building in all of Idaho: the Cataldo Mission. Priests came to this part of Idaho to …
State Park Overview Priest Lake State Park is the northernmost state park in Idaho. It is 15 miles from the Canadian border and a beautiful blue lake surrounded by mountains and pine trees. Less visited than its sister lakes (Coeur d’Alene and Pend Oreille), Priest …
Massacre Rocks State Park can be found on the Snake River in southeastern Idaho. This dry stretch of land is full of sagebrush and rattlesnakes, but the Snake River adds variety to the landscape. History is the name of the game here, with some interesting pioneer artifacts.
Visitor center with a flushing toilet. Outside there are vault toilets and spots for camping and trailers. For all other details, visit the Department of Parks and Rec website.
The place was almost deserted. I don’t think they get a lot of traffic here. Across from the visitor center is a round of camping spots partially obscured by hills and sage brush, but I think all in all there were only a handful of people here while we were.
We also visited Register Rock and we saw two other parties during the short time we were there.
One thing that is tough to swallow in history is that words like ‘massacre’ stick around, even though events might not have backed up the claim. I think this is the case in the Massacre Rocks State Park. It was named thus because in 1862 a group of pioneers crossing the Oregon Trail and the Native Americans in the land had a few issues and some of the pioneers were killed. 10 to be exact. As a response to this and other interactions, the U.S. militia wiped out almost 500 Shoshone in a winter camp in 1863. That one probably deserves the title massacre. But being as massacre is a flashy word and people know the power of marketing, the industrious gentlefolk of the time used Massacre Rocks to promote the area.
There used to be a small hotel here as it was a major thoroughfare for people traveling east and west, but this was abandoned in the 1960s. When the road was widened into I-86, the rocks that used to be a narrow gap were widened significantly.
Our first stop at Massacre Rocks State Park was to the groovy 60s-feeling visitor center. There is a nice lookout where you can see the different sagebrush-type of scrub plants local to the area. Inside the building there are some interesting replicas of wagon trains. Our next stop was to climb on some of the lava rocks outside the visitor center. I think the paths we were on were technically hiking trails, and we eventually ended up on a trail by the Snake River. We were on a little nature path and learned about the birds and other animals that live here. The trail eventually petered out so we turned around and headed back. It was pretty hot walking down to the river, so I recommend not doing this in the heat of summer days.
Our next stop was a short drive down I-86 to Register Rock. This is a little park with parking spots and some grass, but the main event is the rock that people signed on their way west to Oregon and California. It’s rad to see history like that and imagine the hearty people that went before us.
Many people drive past Massacre Rocks State Parks on their way back and forth on I-86, but it sure doesn’t seem like very many people stop in for a visit. We were glad we did; if nothing else it was a nice place to stretch our legs. I enjoyed the history lessons, even if they taught me the name of the place was a bit farfetched.
Note: we visited Massacre Rocks State Park as part of our Idaho State Parks Challenge. The challenge consists of visiting all of Idaho’s state parks in one year. We made up this challenge to see a bit more of our beautiful state and help alleviate the restlessness caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions. Feel free to join the challenge!
Related posts you might like:
Or if you want to see all of our posts, visit Past Posts.
Along the western side of Dworshak Reservoir sits Dworshak State Park. Our visit to this park was fraught with challenges thanks to a wildfire (keep reading to learn more about that experience). Since we did not visit the park under the best of circumstances, I …