Category: Site-Seeing

Octagon Spring was a popular gathering place for local residents and for visitors to the famous Idanha Hotel,built in 1887,which was just across the street to the south of the spring.

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 summer only. Established in 1879, this historic community on the Oregon Trail is a well preserved example of a small Mormon settlement. The town site features 23 historic buildings, many of them brick, built between 1884 and 1904. Drive north through the US 30/SH 34 junction onto Old Highway…

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.

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

Corrigan Park or City Park as it is commonly referred to is located in downtown Soda springs right alongside Highway 30. At 11 1/2 acres it is the city's second largest park. Historical trains on site. Look for the Byway historic maps on the south end of the park. It…

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….

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

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.

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

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…

The Blackfoot River Canyon is a smaller version of the Snake River Birds of Prey Area and makes for an excellent backcountry scenic drive.

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…

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."

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Visit Idaho’s largest butterfly house where you can enjoy the beauty of many different species of butterflies, plants and birds. Showcasing many different species found here in Idaho.  Walk through the indoor botanical garden and watch the butterflies flutter around you.

Open year round. The theme, purpose, and value of the museum is to sell the public on the value of clean. Cleaning efforts over the centuries will be chronicled through displays, demonstrations, and even dramatized in a cleaning melodrama. Items dating back more than 2000 years, along with an amazing…

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…

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…

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.

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

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 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.

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…

The Bear River Heritage Area straddles the Idaho-Utah border where the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountains meet. Come and experience its unique and varied cultural heritage. www.bearriverheritage.com

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.

Open year round. Idaho’s Natural History: Don’t just see it, experience it! 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! Collections in anthropology, vertebrate paleontology, earth science, and the life sciences. Educational classes for…

47,000 acres of sagebrush and grasses comprise the only National Grassland in the intermountain west that provides habitat for a diversity of wildlife including upland game birds and waterfowl.