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Idaho Travel

Geographers cannot seem to agree on whether to call Idaho part of the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountain West, or the Intermountain West — not surprising, since a topographical map of the state looks something like a crazy quilt patched together with odd pieces of mountain and prairie, desert and lakeland, forest and plain.

First part of Oregon Country, then Washington Territory, present-day Idaho — home to only about a million people — is what was left over when Montana was eventually shorn away. But if Idaho is a scrap, it is a gloriously scenic one, from its 45-mile-wide panhandle on the Canadian border to its mountainous wilderness areas and vast plains farther south. Cobbled in along the way are rolling prairies, snowy peaks, and sage-covered flatlands.

Warhawk Air Museum, Idaho

At the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, I got a fascinating look at flight, from World War I through future space-age research. It's housed in a 20,000-square-foot building located, appropriately enough, right next to the airport.

Idaho's Old Mission State Park

Old-west history buffs will enjoy northern Idaho's Old Mission State Park, where a cathedral-like church rose in the 1850s almost like a miracle in the wilderness.

The state's oldest standing building, the Old Mission church was hand-built by Jesuit priests and the local Coeur d'Alene Indians--without using a single nail!

Idaho Potato Expo

If you're a meat-and-potatoes lover, you'll enjoy a visit to the Idaho Potato Expo in Blackfoot. The town bills itself as the Potato Capital of the World--it's in Bingham County, which produces more spuds than any other in the U.S.

Nez Perce Culture, Spalding Visitors Center, Idaho

We got a fascinating look at Nez Perce culture and history at the Spalding Visitors Center, the headquarters of the Nez Perce National Historical Park, located in Spalding in northwestern Idaho.

Lewis and Clark Trail, Idaho

Following the trail of Lewis and Clark, my husband, Cliff, and I stopped for coffee in Weippe, Idaho, a hamlet on the high mountain prairie where the Nez Perce fed the starving Corps of Discovery in 1805.

Walking up a slight hill from First Stop Java, I entered Cyndy's Echoes of the Past. The realistic-looking dolls that owner Cyndy Koerling sculpts and dresses in authentic Nez Perce fashion were amazing. Even the infants on flat cradleboards wear beautiful beaded leather covers!