Category: Byways

This site is the point on the Bear River where water was first diverted by Mormon settlers to develop an agriculture industry in Gem Valley. It was completed in the early 1900's and was an engineering masterpiece for it's time. The Last Chance Canal Company was started with 64 original…

This site offers wildlife viewing, fishing, and (further up the river) kayaking and canoeing.

The store, built in 1908, is a last remnant of a small but important livestock community in that time. The once famous Henry Stampede Rodeo and Stockman's Reunion began here in 1918.

Gutzon Borglum was a prolific American sculptor best know for his presidents' sculptures on Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Borglum was born in St. Charles, Idaho in 1867.

Part of Massacre Rocks State Park, was an emigrant campground where travelers inscribed their names on basalt boulders. As travelers on the Oregon Trail paused at Register Rock, they succumbed to the all too human desire to leave word of their passage.  They inscribed their names and often the date…

This beautiful gem of the byway could be easily passed or overlooked if travelers aren't already aware of it. The Black Canyon Gorge is just one mile west of Grace and offers display of a basalt lava flow combined with the effects of nature over time. The Bear River formed…

Massacre Rocks State Park is one of the Historical Areas operated by the State of Idaho to remind visitors of the march of history through the state.  Ten miles west of American Falls on I-86, take exit 28 and follow the signs.  The park has stories to tell which date…

Over 300,000 emigrants used the Oregon-California Trail between 1840 and 1869. Three ruts are visible at the bottom of the hill, indicating that the wagons and oxen spread out to reduce the dust.

The site is a 7 mile segment of "The Lander Cut-off of the Oregon Trail", the first road commissioned by Congress with funding for location and construction. F.W. Lander supervised the project.

Open year round. Both permanent and rotating exhibits about the history of the Lava Hot Springs area and development of the surrounding rural communities of Arimo, Inkom, Downey, McCammon, Virginia and Swan Lake.

In 1989, 160-acres surrounding Formation Springs was turned into a preserve established by the Nature Conservancy to protect the crystal clear pools and unique wetland complex.  The water feeding these terraced pools is very high in travertine (calcium carbonate), which has created a unique geology for the area, the most impressive…

Fort Hall Replica and Commemorative Trading Post & Pocatello Junction, A Frontier Town Replica The Fort Hall Replica and Commemorative Trading Post is a replica of the historic facility that served pioneer travelers along the Oregon Trail. Enter the massive wooden gates and wander through the Company Hall, Frontier Room,…

Open summer only. The oldest continually settled town in Idaho, Franklin was founded in 1860 by Mormon pioneers. Several original buildings stand in the historic district: the Relic Hall, the old ZCMI store, the Hatch House, and others. The Old Yellowstone Route is just outside of Franklin where stagecoaches full…

China Hat and China Cap are rhyolite domes that formed around older volcano lava flows. There are many faults located in the area which have had a part in forming these land forms as well as multiple "grabens". This is also a great Bird Watching area. The best bird viewing…

This forested area offers public-lands-campground, recreation and wildlife viewing in the great outdoors of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.

Bear Lake State Park is located in a high mountain valley in the extreme southeast corner of Idaho. At 5,900 feet elevation, the park offers a wide variety of both summer and winter recreation opportunities. Bear Lake itself is 20 miles long and 8 miles wide with half of the…

The January 29, 1863 Bear River Massacre of 250 or more Native Americans, by Colonel Patrick Connor and his troops, occurred here. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. The battle became one of the worst disasters for Native Americans in the west.

Tour through a wondrous half-mile of stalactites and stalagmites in the largest limestone cave in Idaho.

Open in the summer only. CHESTERFIELD is an early Mormon settlement 11 miles north of Bancroft, Idaho.  Founded in 1881, it is now unoccupied, but history buffs won’t let it go away.  They formed a foundation to refurbish and maintain 27 original structures now on the National Historic Register.  Many…

Free, clear sparkling soda water still is available in a beautiful Soda Springs city park located two miles north from the center of town. A prime attraction for more than 160 years, soda water from these springs was known nationally after rail service reached this resort area in 1882. W.H….

Open year round. Visitors will discover dinosaurs, ice-age mammals, how to live off the land, and more. They can also experience science hands-on in the Discovery Room! See fossils of animals that used to live right here in Idaho, including whorl tooth sharks and dinosaurs! Children will get excited about…

Soda Springs boasts having the world's only captive geyser. On November 30, 1937 in an attempt to find a hot water source for a local swimming pool, a well driller set free the natural geyser at a depth of 317 feet. It is located on Pyramid Spring, a travertine mound described by Fremont in his 1840s expeditions, along with other area springs.

Closed in the Winter. The National Oregon/California Trail Center is located near the Clover Creek Encampment of the Oregon Trail in Montpelier at 320 North 4th Street. The trail center depicts the 2000-mile, 5-month journey along the Oregon Trail in daily Living History tours. They also host Conventions and Meetings…

Celebrate Welsh Culture and History in Samaria Idaho. Malad Valley Heritage Square is a wonderful collection of Pioneer era cabins, an old fashioned Ice Cream store, covered wagons and farm machinery. It includes the Osmond Family Homestead. Visit their Facebook page for news and events. View a poster of Malad Valley…

This Building was built in 1914 by R.B. Davis and used as a Drug Store for many years. Miles Slater was the pharmacist. The original pressed-tin ceiling and the original safe are still in good condition and are interesting features of the Oneida Pioneer Museum.

This location along US 30 provides a spectacular view of the Bear River. Sherman Peak, at an elevation of 9,682 feet, can be seen in the distance. The 300-mile river is one of the most circuitous in the United States.

Summer only. This small log and wood frame building over 125 years old, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In Georgetown’s early settlement, it functioned as a local chapel, schoolhouse and general meeting hall. For many years it was a focal point for the female society of…

This waterfowl refuge, along the north shore of beautiful Bear Lake, is great for observing white-faced ibis, Canada geese, ducks, sandhill cranes, and a variety of songbirds.

Jesse Cariboo" Jack Fairchild discovered gold high on this mountain in 1870 and a mining rush from Utah followed. Millions of dollars worth of gold were mined before it ran out."

This preserve north of Soda Springs provides habitat for migrating waterfowl such as Sandhill cranes, Franklin's gulls, geese, ducks and hawks.

Olive Osmond, born Olive May Davis, who died in 2004, was born in the cabin in 1925. Olive Osmond was the mother of Marie and Donny Osmond and the Osmond Brothers. The cabin was rebuilt Luke Waldron.

Open year round. Step into the past with a visit to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum. This museum is dedicated to those kind and generous people in our community who see a real need to tell our story from our point of view. With old photographs, displays and exhibits you will…

The Cave was formed when basalt lava flowed out of a vent 500 thousand years ago forming a lava tube typical to this type of volcanic activity on the Snake River Plains. It was important to early settlers and native Americans for food storage. 

Sulphur Springs was noted in numerous early explorer and emigrant diaries. The cold water and bare ground continues to emit sulphur smelling gas in a bubbling "plip-plop" manner reminiscent of hot pots in Yellowstone Park.

This district is architecturally and historically significant and is one of the regions most diverse and well-preserved urban street scapes. A variety of architectural styles are represented in the district, including Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Sullivanesque and Art Deco, as well as many adaptations of early 20th-century commercial styles with classical…

The first department store in Idaho, the Evans Co-op, which was part of the Mormon cooperative movement, ZCMI, of the 1860s, in which local production and purchasing was encouraged through cooperatives. The co-op is now a True Value Hardware Store, carrying house wares and appliances, sporting goods and hardware.

In 1878, Ben Waldron lost his leg in a threshing accident. The leg was buried on the east side of the cemetery and was given a headstone with a leg carved on it, along with the initials “B.W.” and the date. Ben himself did not die until 1914, and he was buried on the west side of the cemetery, far from his lost leg

This sparkling turquoise lake spanning the Idaho-Utah border offers swimming, boating, water skiing, sailing and fishing.

This cabin, one of the first built on the Nine Mile Creek in Marsh Valley, was erected by William Jason and Cyrus Coffin before 1866. Later it was purchased by Abigail Coffin, who with her sons, Nathan, Cyrus, and William were among the first settlers. They used the cabin for the first school and store.

A Shoshone Indian Chief who gained national notoriety during the struggle between white emigrants and Native Americans. When he died in 1884, he was buried in a deep spring in Idaho along with his clothing, guns, knives and hunting equipment. The city of Pocatello is named in his honor and erected his statue at the Pocatello Visitor's Center.

Open year round. The Bannock County Historical Museum houses exhibits, objects, and records relating to Bannock County and Pocatello's history. Exhibit themes include railroad history, early medical practices, general store, the military, Victorian era parlor and  Shoshone-Bannock Indian artifacts. It sits adjacent to the Fort Hall Replica and the zoo in…

Sheep Rock was the location of the first split of the Oregon-California Trail. The Bidwell-Bartleson Party and the Hudspeth Cutoff diverged from the main trail here. Oregon Trail Public Park and Marina – This park, on the shore of Alexander Reservoir, features a marina, picnic area and playground, and a remnant of the Oregon Trail.

Built in 1892 by Isaac Evans, the Blue Goose was originally a furniture store and Post Office. Clarence Hughes runs this charming store, which was moved to the town park in Samaria to keep it from being torn down. He sells local crafts, cookbooks, candy and sodas, and has video rentals.

This place of worship is recognized as one of the true pioneer landmarks of the West and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1889, this Romanesque Mormon tabernacle was constructed of red sandstone that had to be transported by wagon or sled from a quarry 18 miles away.

Stop in at this visitor center after entering Idaho from Utah to discover all there is to see and do in Idaho.

Red Rock Pass was cut through a sill of resistant Paleozoic shale, limestone, and dolomite, and forms a narrow gap two miles long. At one time the pass was at the shoreline of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, 300 feet higher. Lava flows in the vicinity of Pocatello diverted the Bear River through Lake Thatcher into Lake Bonneville.

The Academy is a unique 3-story Romanesque stone building, constructed in the early 1890s. It is one of three, out of 35, similar surviving buildings from the days of Mormon Church sponsored education. It was moved from Preston High School to it's current location in 2004.

Emigrants by the thousands entered present day eastern Idaho at this location traveling along the Oregon-California Trail. Emigrants on the trail encountered Big Hill, thought to be the steepest and longest descent found on the trip west.