Sun Valley is the vacation mecca for the stars of yesterday and today, with the likes of Demi Moore, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Arnold Schwartzenegger taking in the highlights. This was the home of Ernest Hemingway and where he wrote many of his books. He and his wife are buried in Ketchum and a memorial in his honor is on Sun Valley Road.
Get out and explore, unplug from the modern life with a stay at Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch in Stanley. There are no phones, TV or radio to distract you from the Valleys and their activities. From the ranch there is horseback riding, a natural hot spring pool, hiking, and fishing. The cabins and lodge rooms have an enchanting western flair that will take you back in time when ranches were the norm.
Whitewater rafting on the Salmon and Snake Rivers can be found in Stanley and Ketchum. There are seven outfitters to choose from with to six day trips in the wilderness. One of the outfitters has arrangements for fishing floating on the calmer waters of the Salmon River.
For the experienced mountain bikers there are challenging single track trails on the 1500+ miles of choices around Ketchum. Trail maps can be found at the local bike shop in town. Sawtooth National Recreation Area has more tracks to ride with guides or alone. Bike rentals and guidebooks are available in Stanley.
From the slopes of Bald Mountain in Ketchum there is paragliding with no "jumping off" for a sky view of the beautiful mountains. Seated next to your pilot, all ages from 3 to 93 can take a ride of a lifetime.
Whenever I want to find my father I just head to the freestone headwaters of Salmon River where he is taking advantage of the fishing. Rainbow, cutthroat, bull trout, steelhead, Chinook and sockeye salmon are plentiful thanks to the efforts of the game rangers.
The reason I come here is for the hiking trails. The canyons and gulches has a wide variety of trails from beginner to the advanced with magnificent views of Boulder, Pioneer, Smoky Bald and Sawtooth Mountains. Park your car at Tyrolean Lodge, cross the Big Wood River Bridge and stay right of the lodge. The trail up Bald Mountain gives full panoramic views of the Smoky Mountains. It is about a nine mile hike and such an adrenaline rush.
Ketchum has seven parks: Atkinson, Rotary, Forest Service, Knob Hill, Guy Coles Skate and Ketchum Parks. Atkinson has many sports facilities with a range from tennis to basketball courts to choose from. Ketchum is historically wonderful with the Wagon museum and Bonning cabin that was built in 1882 to browse around.
Ketchum Sun Valley Historical Society Heritage and Ski Museum on the corner of First Street and Washington Avenue has two buildings of exhibits and a great gift shop. Learn about the area's Shoshone Indians, Ernest Hemingway, mining, sheep ranching and war veteran information.
There are two mid-level golf courses with 9-holes in big Wood and Warm River Springs. The top level courses are at Elkhorn (private), Sun Valley in Ketchum and Valley Club at Hailey. Warm River Springs is right along the river so watch for the water hazards.
Arco has the Craters of the Moon National Monument. This crater landscape of rugged black lava was used as a training ground for early astronauts. Permits are required for these hikes, but there are caves in this area for exploring also.
Other points of interest are two ghost towns of Custer and Bonanza that is great for investigating the old mining way of life. Bison Jump is a cliff the Shoshone used in hunting buffaloes, they would just push them over the edge. Challis has Lands of the Yankee Fork, a state park that commemorates the mining era.
This guide to Sun Valley and the surrounding areas was brought to you by Kellea Croft.