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Idaho Tourist AttractionsGuide to roadside oddities and other weird, strange and unusual attractions in Idaho.
Kind of a strange place for sand dunes. Like that desert in Maine. Only this one is surrounded by sagebrush and a lake, not evergreens. Idaho is also known as the Spud State. It definitely has it's share of roadside oddities that are...(can you guess???)
Besides being the Spud State, it's also called the Gem State. A couple of offbeat tourist attractions have their roots in the old mining days. You can even drink from one of these roadside oddities!
And with all the old mining activity way back when, there are tons of ghost towns. Ghost towns are great Idaho tourist attractions! Silver City is especially intriguing. The road is closed during the winter, Nov-late May or early June, but...you can travel in by snowmobile. Snowmobile in to a ghost town. What a cool adventure! Not everybody gets to do that!
That's what this whole site is all about. Cool travel adventures not everybody gets to do. And wonderful roadside oddities a lot of people miss in their travels. Or even when they live there. Yeah, I used to live in Idaho. Shelley. Or rather Firth, right next door to Shelley. Did I ever go to the potato festival in Shelley? Uh, no. I can be excused from not seeing the world's largest potato chip in Blackfoot. It wasn't there when I lived in Idaho. But to not take the chance to wander through the world's largest refrigerator? What's my excuse there? Actually, it's a cave--an ice cave. The Shoshone Ice Caves are part kitsch and part natural wonder. I can't believe I missed this Idaho tourist attraction! I never had any potato ice cream, either. But I sure devoured a lot of Idaho Spuds. No, not the potato!!! I mean the candy bar. MMmmmm. Best candy bar in the world. They are NUMMMMMMMY!!!
That's where roadside oddities like the world's largest Styrofoam potato reside. They also have the world's largest potato chip on exhibit. And maybe even (sometimes) they have potato ice cream in the summer. Now there's a weird Idaho tourist attraction for you - potato ice cream. The Idaho Potato Expo is in an old railroad station in Blackfoot, ID. From I-15, take exit 93 and follow the signs. They are on Hwy. 91.
Well, first you have to climb up it though. And it's a heck of a climb through all that fine, sugary Bruneau dunes sand.
It's about a 470-foot climb. Photo courtesy Mountain Visions.
Nope. Can't use a quad to get up the Bruneau sand dunes either, like at Glamis (CA). Only nonmotorized vehicles allowed. You can, if you want, try mountain biking up the dune... Besides the sand dunes, another Idaho tourist attraction at Bruneau Dunes State Park is gazing at the stars. Haul out the binoculars and your handy-dandy star map. The stars are unbelievably bright in the area. Or...if you're there on a Friday and Saturday evening in Mar thru mid-Nov, The Bruneau Observatory is open to the public.
Bruneau Dunes State Park is about 20 miles south of Mountain Home, ID. Phone: (208) 366 - 7919
For a wonderful scenic train ride, the Thunder Mountain Line follows the Payette River. There's some unique Idaho tourist attractions along the way, like going through the shortest solid-rock railroad tunnel in the nation.
Photo courtesy Idaho Public TV. The Thunder Mountain Line has a depot in Horseshoe Bend and a boarding station in Cascade. Phone: (877) 432-7245
To see this cool Idaho roadside attraction, go to 300 E. Cameron Ave. in Kellogg, Id.
A wonderful working Idaho tourist attraction near Mullan is called Elmer's Fountain. Made of old mining equipment, the fountain is fed by an artesian spring. And...it even runs in the winter!
Photo Courtesy Sondahl.com Elmer's Fountain is off the I-90 near Mullan.
A sign marks the spot 2.5 miles north of New Meadows on U.S. 95 where the 45th Parallel runs through. That means it's halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. Not really a roadside oddity as such, it is a popular roadside photo stop, complete with a small rest area.
The Tuttle Blacksmith Shop, founded in 1896, is now an Idaho tourist attraction, still in operation today and open for tours. So how the heck did blacksmithing get its name? I've always wondered that. Yeah, really, I'll wake up at 3 in the morning and go, How did blacksmithing get its name? (Ha ha. Not really.) But now I finally know... Here's Wikipedia's definition: "Blacksmiths work with "black" metals, especially iron. The black color comes from a layer of oxides that form on the surface of the metal during heating (called fire scale). The term "smith" originates from the word "smite", which means to hit. Thus, a blacksmith is a person who smites the black metals." Check out the blacksmithing activity at the Tuttle Blacksmith Shop at 116 W. Maple, New Plymouth ID. Phone: (866) 278 - 5846
Bring a jacket to the Shoshone Ice Caves in Shoshone Idaho. They are COLD. Colder than most caves. There's ice on the floors. If you do forget your jacket, they have some loaners hanging on the outside wall of the curio shop you can borrow. Watch for the ghost of an Indian princess. Legend says she was buried in the ice and when the ice all melts at this Idaho tourist attraction, she will walk the caves again. The ice all melted in the 1940s. This was due to poor management of the owners at the time so does it count since it wasn't a natural phenomenon? Also, keep your eyes peeled for the bones of Mama Bear and Baby Bear. Watch for their ghosts, too. Never can tell, there might be bear ghosts in the ice caves, too. The Shoshone Ice Caves are at 1561 N. Hwy. 75, 17 mi. N. of Shoshone ID. Phone: 208-886-2058
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There's also the chance to trade rails for rafts and hit the whitewater of the Payette.
In Kellogg, there's a building shaped like a miner's hardhat with a giant carbide lamp. It, appropriately, houses the Miner's Hat Realty.
