Idaho Fun Facts

The deepest river gorge in the North American Continent is Idaho's Hells Canyon - 7,900 feet deep. Yes, it's deeper than the Grand Canyon.
In Fort Village County, Idaho, it's a crime to give alcohol to any elk within 470 feet of a city council meeting before dawn.
63% of Idaho is public land managed by the federal government.
Five of history's pioneer trails, including the Oregon Trail and the California Trail, cross Southern Idaho. Wagon ruts are still visible all along the rugged terrain.
The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the largest wilderness area in the 48 contiguous states - 2.3 million acres of rugged, unspoiled back country.
The world's first alpine skiing chairlift was (and still is) located in Sun Valley. Built by Union Pacific Railroad engineers, it was designed after a banana-boat loading device. In1936, the fee was 25 cents per ride.
Sacajawea, a Lemhi Shoshoni from an area now on the Montana/Idaho border, escorted Meriwether Lewis and William Clark through northern Idaho to the mouth of the Columbia River drainage. Today, Highway 12 follows the northern Idaho to the old Lewis and Clark Trail along the Lochsa (pronounced lock-saw) and Clearwater Rivers until they merge with the Snake and continue their journey to the Pacific Ocean.
In Idaho, it is against the law for anyone over the age of 88 to ride a motorcycle.
Appropriately named the "Gem State," Idaho produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world.
Ernest Hemingway arrived in Sun Valley in 1939 to work on his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Idaho offered wide open spaces for Hemingway to indulge in his passions for hunting, skiing, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Hemingway is buried in Ketchum, Idaho where he died on July 2, 1961.
Idaho's Salmon River is known as the "River of No Return" because of its difficult passage. It’s the nation's longest free-flowing river that heads and flows within a single state.
One of the largest diamonds ever found in the United States, nearly 20 carats, was discovered near McCall, Idaho.
The Statehouse in Boise and dozens of other buildings in the city are geothermally heated from underground hot springs. In fact, Idaho is well sprinkled with public and private hot springs.
The longest main street in America, 33 miles in length, can be found in Island Park, Idaho.
It's safe to make love while parked in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Police officers aren't allowed to walk up and knock on the window. Any suspicious officer who thinks that sex is taking place must drive up from behind, honk his horn three times and wait proximately two minutes before getting out of his car to investigate.
The Lewis and Clark Highway (United State Highway 12) is the shortest route from the midwest to the Pacific Coast and the longest highway within a national forest in the nation.
Bruneau Dunes State Park contains North America's tallest single structured sand dune. It stands 470 feet high.
Bruneau Canyon Overlook offers a view into a 1,200 foot-deep, 800-foot-wide river canyon.
Idaho grows about 27 billion potatoes annually.